New Delhi:
Redcliffe Labs, a unit of Redcliffe Lifetech in the US, has announced the addition of ‘NovaSeq 6000’ sequencing system to their diagnostic technology portfolio at its Noida National Reference Lab.
The introduction of the new technology makes Redcliffe Labs the first in North India to house the most sophisticated sequencing system useful in the diagnosis of rare conditions in newborns, infants and in prenatal settings.
“The addition of the world’s most advanced genome sequencing system for newborn and rare diseases will equip us to offer the most comprehensive suite of genetic testing services that find significant applications in rare and novel genetic variants. Doctors from specialties such as gynecologist, obstetricians and pediatricians who we are serving with our routine portfolio, requested us to build specialized portfolio given our quality and reach are so wide and no private lab in Northern region of India has housed such a powerful sequencer,” said Dheeraj Jain, Founder, Redcliffe Labs.
While the system is being installed in the National lab, it serves the entire country with the most efficient logistics and will reduce the testing time and help save costs for the patients in the neighbouring region and states.
Ease of access to NovaSeq 6000 sequencing system will prove to be very useful, as currently there’s no mass level testing protocol rolled out by the states for genetic diseases. Following the successful adoption of NovaSeq 6000 technology, high throughput speed and flexibility will be available to conduct research or tests that need the processing of massive amounts of data in a more efficient and cost-effective manner.
“It will facilitate us in offering high-throughput sequencing across a wide range of applications. It also enables researchers to investigate genetic relationships between health and disease on a massive scale by allowing them to sequence more samples in greater depth in order to find rare and novel genetic variations,” Jain added.
North India particularly is known to be very high in genetic disorders and is also characterized by consanguineous, a marriage which increases the chance of rare diseases. This finds vast application in the diagnosis of rare conditions in newborns, infants and in prenatal settings.
Through its network of 700 collection centers and lab network across the country, Redcliffe is well-positioned to service the genetic testing requirements of the entire country including Tier 2 and 3 towns. Moreover, the sophisticated sequencing system will allow healthcare to move closer to preventive precision medicine which will benefit everyone.
“Our company is happy to work with Redcliffe to support their diagnostic efforts with the addition of NovaSeq 6000, a world-class next-generation sequencing technology. This is indeed a huge step forward for Redcliffe and the medical community. It will greatly increase sequencing throughput and allow for precise and rapid whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing results. This will result in faster diagnosis and treatment for patients,” said Praveen Gupta, MD, Premas Life Sciences.
Rare diseases are estimated to impact about 6% to 8% of the population in any given country. Even a conservative estimate of the country’s population of 1.35 billion people results in a count of nearly 81 million people. Moreover, 70% of hereditary uncommon disorders manifest themselves in childhood.
On this front, early and prompt diagnosis not only saves money in the long run but also saves lives. Despite the fact that the National Policy for Rare Diseases 2021 emphasizes the importance of preventative screening through prenatal screening, prenatal diagnosis, newborn screening, and early postnatal diagnosis and treatment, infrastructure and equipment are still needed to make Rare Disease Disorder Screening easily accessible. Using this high-throughput genomics technique, Redcliffe will be able to make a significant impact in saving lives.