India's first biobank will revolutionize the treatment of diabetes

Diabetes biobank: A biobank is a center where biological samples are stored, processed, and distributed for research. This biobank will help identify new biomarkers for different types related to diabetes.

Diabetes biobank: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF) have jointly established India's first diabetes biobank to give new dimensions to the treatment and research of the rapidly growing disease like diabetes. This state-of-the-art biobank is located in Chennai and will store biological samples of the Indian population.

A biobank is a centre where biological samples are stored, processed and distributed for research. This biobank will help in identifying new biomarkers for different types of diabetes (such as type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes). Apart from this, it will also help in developing individual treatment strategies and studying the progression of the disease.

MDRF Chairman Dr V Mohan said the process of creating the biobank started several years ago. "We have saved blood samples from several types of youth diabetes for future research. This research will not only simplify the early diagnosis of diabetes, but will also help in understanding and treating its complications.

A government study, which covered 1.2 lakh Indians, highlighted the growing problem of diabetes. The study covered 33,537 urban and 79,506 rural residents from urban and rural areas from 2008 to 2020. It found that the prevalence of diabetes and other metabolic diseases is increasing rapidly in India.

Benefits of Diabetes Biobank This biobank also includes blood samples stored under the ICMR Young Diabetes Registry. These samples cover cases of gestational diabetes including type 1 and type 2 diabetes, which show unique clinical features in the Indian population. It will help researchers understand the specifics of diabetes in India.

Future Hope

The Diabetes Biobank will not only help in early diagnosis of the disease but will also ensure that the treatment is patient-specific. This could revolutionize diabetes treatment and prevention strategies. This initiative will prove to be a milestone not only for India, but for diabetes research across the world.