Jammu: In a first of its kind, the Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College and Hospital Jammu has successfully started genetic testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations on cutting-edge Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology at Government Medical College.
As per officials, as a capacity building in genetic sequencing and to provide most advanced technology in diagnostics as well as research, NGS was started in oncogenetic testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes targeting harmful mutations that predispose individuals, or their relatives, to cancer.
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“Having a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes can increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer, by the age of 70, to between 65-85 percent for BRCA1 mutations and between 40-85 percent for BRCA2,” they said.
The officials further added that positive BRCA1 or BRCA2 results allow women to make a choice well in advance about available options that could potentially reduce their risk of developing breast cancer well in advance.
The department will gradually add Human Papillomavirus NGS testing in the second phase, said officials.
With dynamic achievement under the fast-track administrative support of Principal and Dean, Dr Ashutosh Gupta, the Department of Microbiology, GMC Jammu with faculty and scientists trained in Bioinformatics and NGS becomes first ever Govt. institution in Jammu and Kashmir to start NGS diagnostic testing in the health care sector, they stated.
team had earlier reported that the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMC), Jammu is going to be the first health institution in the Jammu region that will soon have an NGS (Next Generation Sequencing) testing facility for detecting and diagnosing early stage cancer. The NGS facility is expected to start in the Jammu GMC by February, official sources said.
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