Hunt for Magic Potion

Despite the lockdown, Dr Amol D. Raut, CEO at Pune’s Genetic Healing and Director at GeneOmbio Technologies, has not slept for days. That’s also the case with his 50-odd colleagues, mainly scientists. Dr. Raut is using his nearly two decades of experience in infectious diseases, molecular diagnostics and human genome sequencing to study the structure and characteristics of the four-month-old SARS-CoV-2 virus gene. Soon, his team will launch a genetic study to develop diets suitable to Indians that can improve immunity against the disease. Another study with the 70-year-old Kaivalyadham Yoga Research Institute at Lonavala near Pune will map genes of a sample pool in Maharashtra to learn how Yoga can improve immunity against the coronavirus.

If Dr. Raut’s studies to fight coronavirus are looking for allied solutions based on traditional knowledge, cutting-edge genome research is also on across the world to find drugs or vaccines or other possible ways to control coronavirus. MedGenome, a market leader in genetic diagnostic testing in India, has found out why some people are more susceptible to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. MedGenome, along with Chennai-based SciGenom Research Foundation (SGRF), analysed DNA sequence and variation data from over three lakh individuals across the world for its study. They found out variations in ACE2 protein as the reason for the spread of the pandemic. The job of ACE2 - an enzyme created by the ACE2 protein and seen on cell surface - is to maintain blood pressure in the body. The SARS-CoV-2