Fostering diversity in global genomics: a South Asian perspective

The 'Global South' with excess of two third of the world population is grossly underrepresented in genetic studies. The lack of genetic information disables these populations to adequately utilize the enormous knowledge available connecting genes with diseases and the practicality of genomics informed patient stratification and precision medicine. Here, we discuss how the genomes from the Global South, including the GenomeIndia Project, a pan India initiative to study India's genetic diversity, would enhance our understanding in disease genomics. GenomeIndia Project ensures a diverse representation of India's genetic landscape, with particular emphasis on small, isolated populations from across the country. Furthermore, GenomeIndia incorporates baseline blood biochemistry, anthropological, and socio-economic data of each participant; a comprehensive effort in connecting genotypes to phenotypes. We envision that the rich information generated by this project in conjunction with other global efforts, will be translated into knowledge applicable to infer the evolutionary history and disease landscape in unprecedented details.