Tata Trusts to start project to eradicate malaria in India

MUMBAI: Tata Trusts, the philanthropic arm of the Tata Group, is starting on a project to eradicate malaria from India completely by exploring the new gene-editing technology that modifies the DNA of Indian mosquitoes thereby halting the spread of the deadly disease.

Tata Trusts will invest $70 million (Rs 458 crore) over the next 5 years by setting up The Tata Institute of Genetics and Society in Bengaluru in collaboration with the University of California San Diego in the US and the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (InStem) in Bengaluru.

Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata, managing trustee R Venkataramanan and head of innovation Manoj Kumar will bet the trustees of the new Institute. The centre in the US is already operational and the Indian centre will be launched by end of this year or early next year.

"In India, mosquito borne diseases are increasing. Earlier it was just malaria now you have dengue, chikungunya and zika virus. Increasingly vector borne diseases are becoming common. It's dangerous and it is getting more complex," said Kumar. "This programme has the potential of eradicating malaria completely. That is the forward looking vision of the Institute."




According to the World Malaria Report, India accounts for 6% of the total cases of malaria worldwide. Nearly 10.6 lakh cases of malaria were reported in India last year. India’s health ministry aims that the country to be malaria-free by 2030.

Early research by University of California San Diego and University of California Irvine have demonstrated that the mosquito Anopheles stephensi, which is widely present in India, can be genetically engineered to halt the spread of plasmodium falciparum parasite that the mosquitoes help transmit and spread.

The Tata Institute of Genetics and Society researchers and collaborators are expanding on this work with a goal of developing mosquito strains that may ultimately be used to substantially reduce malaria transmission, using a mosquito vector replacement rather than a vector-elimination strategy.

"Tata Trusts are collaborating with the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India-aided InStem in Bengaluru. Malaria is a very tough disease to tackle. Increasing drug resistance, vector control and vaccine development are all challenging. A new approach of genetically modifying mosquito to prevent them from spreading the disease is at early stages and is to be explored carefully," said K Vijayaraghavan, Secretary at Department of Biotechnology.

Tata Trusts will start hiring scientists to work on the project soon. It expects to hire about 40-50 scientists in the first 2-3 years of the research programme.

"The biggest challenge is to get the right human resources -- scientists. We have to make sure we are collaborating with global organisations who have got expertise. That is why we partnered with University of San Diego. Genetic scientists are selected in India and being sent to the US for training," said Tata Trusts' Kumar.organisations who have got expertise. That is why we partnered with University of San Diego. Genetic scientists are selected in India and being sent to the US for training," said Tata Trusts' Kumar.