India releases compilation of 10,000 human genomes from 83 population groups ▪ India has completed and made available a year-long compilation of 10,000 human genomes representing 83 population groups, making up about 2% of the country’s 4,600 population groups, as a database. ▪ This collection will serve as a template of future investigations into disease and drug therapy. The ‘Genome India’ database will now be available to researchers across the world for investigation and is housed at the Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC), in Faridabad, Haryana. ▪ Certain population groups show higher frequencies of alleles, or different versions of the same gene. ▪ Over the last two decades, many countries have created databases of the genomes of their population — for a variety of purposes including estimating disease risks, adverse drug reactions, establishing genealogy and DNA-profiling databases. SpaceX Spacecraft Integration Plan ▪ ISRO has announced that operations to integrate twin SpaceX spacecraft will begin. ▪ As a preliminary effort to establish an Indian research station in space by 2035, ISRO has implemented a research project called SpaceX. ▪ Two spacecraft designed for this purpose - Spaders A and SpaceX B - were launched into orbit from the launch pad in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, via PSLV C-60 rocket and positioned in Earth's orbit. Currently, these two spacecraft are orbiting in the same trajectory at a specified distance from each other. ▪ An attempt was made to reduce the distance between them to 225 meters. ▪ At that time, due to environmental factors, the operational speed of the spacecraft became lower than expected. As a result, the planned spacecraft integration event was postponed.
