Holds First Conference, Indonesian Genomics Association Reveals 2 Goals

Photo: Doc. AGI

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Genomics Association held its first conference since it was officially formed in August 2022.

AGI General Chair Ivan R Sini said that genomics is a new terminology in Indonesia so that his party seeks to hold similar scientific sessions as often as possible.

"No more than once a year, but next year we will hold it again," he told reporters, Saturday, September 30.

He admitted that he was enthusiastic because the purpose of this conference was to be able to fill the gap or gap that occurred, including strengthening genomic products because Indonesia's so far used came from abroad which was deemed less relevant to the situation in Indonesia.

"The second stage is a gap in knowledge, namely how to provide education to the public to better understand the genomic implementation that can be used today," said Ivan.

Ivan explained that this conference could encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and foster new research ideas and facilitate knowledge exchange among researchers, policymakers, and industry representatives.

"In addition, it will also provide a platform for the dissemination of new research findings and identification of research gaps and future directions," added Ivan.

In the end, he said, this conference aims to advance sustainable genetics for health and food in Indonesia for the benefit of the country and the world.

Present on the occasion were the Director General of Pharmacy and Medical Devices Lucia Rizka Andalusia.

He explained that genomic technology had developed rapidly and became a new oil field in Indonesia.

For this reason, the Ministry of Health has also developed a Biomedical and Genome Science Initiative (BGSI) to develop a more appropriate treatment for the community.

The trick, by relying on genetic information collection technology (genomes) from humans and pathogens such as viruses and bacteria or can be called Whole Genome Sequensing (WGS).

"Why? Because this technology must be balanced with good regulations. Otherwise it will have negative consequences because there are elements of ethics, legal and so on," Lusia continued.

Previously, the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) officially launched the Biomedical & Genome Science Initiative (BGSi) at the Eijkman Building at Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM), last August 14,

Through BGSi, the WGS method will be used for research on the development of treatment in six other major categories of diseases, namely cancer, infectious diseases, brain and neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic diseases, genetic disorders, and aging.

In its implementation, BGSi was held in seven vertical hospitals, namely Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Mahar Mardjono National Brain Center Hospital, Sulianto Saroso Hospital, Friendship Hospital, Dharmais Cancer Hospital, Sardjito Hospital, to Prof. IGNG Hospital. Ngoerah.