Dr Kamran Azim is head of the Pak Gemone Project, a programme that recently made Pakistan the first Muslim country and the sixth in the world to map the human genome at the cost of US$40,000. Having got his PhD in genomics and bioinformatics from the University of Karachi in 1999 to later also have done some valuable research in Germany and England, Dr Azim is now assistant professor of bioinformatics at the University of Karachi.

For how long has this project been going on?

The project, which we named the Pak Gemone Project, was started about one year ago.And whose idea was this?

We came up with the idea at the HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry and the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) at the University of Karachi after which we started the work at the Panjwani Centre for Molecular Medicine & Drug Research (PCMD) there.

How many people do you have working on the Pak Genome Project?

There are four or five collaborators at the Panjwani Centre for Molecular Medicine & Drug Research (PCMD) at Karachi University here and some 10 more people at the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) in Shenzhen, China, currently one of the premier research institutions in China for this kind of research.

Why collaborate with China?

We don’t have the modern sophisticated instruments to carry out the complete genome mapping process here so we went to China. Human genome mapping is a complex matter requiring extensive data analysis. There is a huge amount of data that is to be analysed through high performance computing for which we didn’t have the facility here so the blood samples were sent to BGI.

Why was Dr Atta-ur-Rahman selected as the first subject to get his DNA mapped?

It wasn’t a matter of his being a VIP or anything like that as there is no difference in the DNA of a VIP and an ordinary person. People’s circumstances have nothing to do with this. Dr Atta wasn’t even ready for this at first and it took a bit of convincing on our part to get him to agree as he was an ideal candidate.

How do you decide on an ideal candidate?

Scientifically speaking, we wanted someone who was an indigenous individual of Pakistan. You know, someone whose family has been living here for a very long time. Having lived in Multan for 400 years, Dr Atta’s lineage was ideal, making him our first choice for genome mapping.

So what’s next on your Centre’s agenda?

Mapping the human genome of one individual was like reaching a milestone. Our next step will be to gather or build a consensus of Pakistan-specific genomic information. For this we intend gathering samples from the different provinces to proceed with human stem cell research.

And how far are we from reproducing human organs or curing illnesses through human stem cell research?Human genome mapping is a fundamental biological requirement for a number of physiological and disease phenomena. Until now it was done by other countries like China, USA and Japan, but we too have jumped into the race now. Having an idea of the speed of progress in science here, I’d say it may happen sooner rather than later. Still there is no easy way to anticipate time in this.

Can you tell us about the other PCMD projects?

Yes, we are also working on sequencing the mango, date palm and jamun genomes after having already done so with two bacteria genomes.

And how are we doing on the grants and funding for research front? Will having reached so many milestones pave the way for getting the equipment and computers to do the data analysis here now?

Well, I am just a scientist and not really the best person to answer this question. But I will say this that we should decide as a nation if we want to get ahead in science or not. Lack of funds has always come in our way and our colleagues abroad are surprised to learn that we can’t even afford small things sometimes. We have better experts here but not the technology and equipment to do the work, which is also why the young scientists here often become disillusioned and leave for greener pastures.