‘Study of genome sequence helps to detect health issues’

December 19, 2014 08:22 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 07:22 am IST - VIJAYAWADA:

A.Dinakara Rao, Associate professor of Pondicherry Universuty addressing the two-day national seminar on 'Research trends in data mining and bioinfiormatics' in Vijayawada on Friday.

A.Dinakara Rao, Associate professor of Pondicherry Universuty addressing the two-day national seminar on 'Research trends in data mining and bioinfiormatics' in Vijayawada on Friday.

A lot of research is being done on genome sequence and it is helping in detecting possible health issues in humans. Recently, after analysing the genome sequence of a Hollywood star, doctors predicted that the actress might suffer from breast cancer and initiated treatment accordingly, said A. Dinakara Rao, Associate Professor of Pondicherry University.

After studying the genome sequence and diagnosing the possible health issues, doctors are prescribing personalised medicine. All these efforts are leading to creating new drugs, which can help in addressing different health concerns. It is not just human genome, research is being done in rice and wheat genome to help the crop sustain harsh environments like drought, floods etc, he said.

He delivered a lecture at the two-day national seminar on “Research trends in data mining and bioinformatics” organised by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at V.R. Siddhartha Engineering College here on Friday.

He said sky was the limit for students with biology background and good computer programming skills. Bioinformatics offers a lot of inter-disciplinary course modules and students from different backgrounds can pursue higher education in this stream, he suggested.

The Department of Biotechnology in a bid to promote interest among students in this stream conducts an annual test and successful candidates get a research fellowship ranging from Rs.25,000 to Rs.30,000 per month.

More than 80 students and 20 faculty members participated on the inaugural day of the seminar and other experts, including S. Sameen Fathima, Department of CSE, Dr. D.V.L.N. Somayajulu and Dr. R.B.V. Subramnayam from NIT Warangal would be delivering lectures on the second day, said Dr. V. Srinivasa Rao, head of Department of Computer Science and Engineering at V.R.Siddhartha Engineering College.

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