Culture ministry conducting DNA study of Indians, Reddy tells LS

NEW DELHI: The Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI), a subordinate office under the ministry of culture, has undertaken a national project “Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Polymorphism of Contemporary Indian Populations” with objectives to understand the genomic variation of Indian population and reconstruct evolutionary history of human using molecular evidences, Union culture minister G Kishan Reddy informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.

He was responding to the questions raised by Biju Janata Dal MPs Chandrani Murmu and Mahesh Sahoo. The ministry plan was exclusively reported in on May 28, 2022 by this newspaper (https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2022/may/28/culture-ministry-to-study-racial-purity-of-indians-2458899.html).

DNA is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Almost each cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Polymorphism refers to the presence of two or more variant forms of a specific DNA sequence that can occur among different individuals or populations. The lawmakers from Odisha sought to know whether the ministry had allocated a special grant to conduct a survey related to the genetic history of tribals and reasons behind the survey.

Teddy’s reply said that the objective of the move is to generate a DNA database of Indian tribal populations and to trace the migratory history of Indian population through mtDNA and Y chromosome haplogroups. “To know the candidate gene association with various diseases,” the reply also read.
The MPs have also asked the number of tribal communities identified for the survey.

“The DNA sequencing of complete mitochondrial DNA (13,469 base pairs) and Non Recombination Y (NRY) chromosome region for 75 tribal communities have been identified, completed and research results published,” said the minister.