Genomic Variants of Oral Cancer Database (dbGENVOC)

Genomic Variants of Oral Cancer Database (dbGENVOC)

Subject : Science & tech

Context : Recently, the DBT-National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG), Kalyani has created a database of genomic variations in oral cancer called ‘dbGENVOC’.

Concept :

• dbGENVOC is a browsable online database of GENomic Variants of Oral Cancer and is a free resource.

First release of dbGENVOC contains

• ~24 million somatic and germline variants derived from whole exome sequences of 100 Indian oral cancer patients and whole genome sequences of 5 oral cancer patients from India,
• somatic variation data from 220 patient samples drawn from the USA and analyzed by TCGA-HNSCC project and
• manually curated variation data of 118 patients from recently published peer-reviewed publications.

Oral Cancer

• Oral cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer among men in India, largely fuelled by tobacco-chewing. Tobacco-chewing causes changes in the genetic material of cells in the oral cavity. These changes (mutations) precipitate oral cancer.

About NIBMG

• The National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG) has been established as an autonomous institution by the Government of India, under the aegis of the Department of Biotechnology.
• This is the first institution in India explicitly devoted to research, training, translation & service and capacity-building in Biomedical Genomics.
• It is located in Kalyani, West Bengal, India, near Kolkata.