Let us begin the year 2020 by congratulating Dr Prajnya Ranganath, Dr Ashwin Dalal and their team for successfully
conducting the 6th annual conference of the society. We are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the event, array of speakers
and scientific deliberations. With nearly 300 participants, this meeting has set tough goals for Dr Shubha Phadke who will
be hosting the next year’s conference at Lucknow.
The galaxy of speakers from India and abroad, reflected on current status of clinical care and research on genetic
neuromuscular disorders. The enthusiastic participation of the next generation scientists who put up a high number of
scientific abstracts, is noteworthy. The thoughts and discussions on collaborating at various levels (internal
and international) can be expected to seed further joint efforts. We also thank the Indo US Science and
Technology Forum (IUSSTF) for constantly supporting educational activities of our society. It would not have
been possible to have a large number of eminent scientists from the USA to visit us without their financial
support.
The society held its annual general body meeting along the side-lines of the event. Again, the interest and active
participation of the members was commendable. It is heartening to note our society is growing fast day by day and with
its size and composition, we need to shoulder a greater responsibility of guiding clinicians, researchers, public and
policymakers in the right direction of genomic healthcare.
The current issue brings you a variety of articles on treatment of genetic disorders; do not miss the Genexpress
coverage on coffee as a therapy for a genetic disease! We also have a review of antisense oligonucleotide therapy in this
issue. Also, please note the activities of UK-India Genomic Medicine Alliance (UKIGMA) and Indo-UK Genetic
Education Forum.
These are exciting times for medical genetics and it calls for enhanced vigour and commitment on part of the society,
its members and editorial board of Genetic Clinics to improve testing, treatment and teaching in our country. Time to
have some caffeine!