The Karnataka government has launched a research and training unit for rare diseases. The unit will strengthen diagnosis, counselling, and treatment, including developing the service facility for prenatal diagnosis for early identification of genetic disorders in pregnancy.

The foundation stone for the unit, which is an extension of the Centre for Human Genetics (CHG), Bengaluru was laid by Dr Ashwath Narayan CN, Minister for Higher Education; IT & BT, Science & Technology; Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood, Government of Karnataka.

The activities to be undertaken at the Research and Training Unit for Rare Diseases include comprehensive genetic counselling facilities for around 2,500 families with rare disorders, to be evaluated annually; increasing the capacity of diagnostic testing, including exome sequencing; and developing training and service facility for prenatal diagnosis for early identification of genetic disorders in pregnancy.

It will also provide hands-on training in laboratory genetics and incubate startups in developing low-cost therapies for rare disorders along with conducting regular educational modules in Kannada, English and Hindi for raising awareness of human genetic disorders, their early recognition, and treatments available, among pre-university college students in the state. The unit will be around 40,000 sqft with three floors.