Why is it in news?
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A genome study project initiated by the Tea Board of India, to establish the origins and speciality of Indian teas, has now reached an advanced stage.
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The study is being conducted on Assam teas to establish it as a product of India.
Partner institutes
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There are six partner institutes in this project.
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The list includes:1. The New Delhi-based National Tea Research Foundation and ICAR-National Research Centre for Plant Bio Technology,
- CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bio Resource Technology Palampur Himachal Pradesh,
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Tea Research Institute, Jorhat (under TRA),
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UPASI, Coimbatore, and
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Darjeeling Tea Development Centrein Kurseong, Darjeeling.
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The study, which will establish Camelia assamica as an indigenous Indian variety, comes amid reports of a neighbouring country’s efforts to establish Darjeeling tea as a variety that is their own.
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The Commerce Ministry official said that the multi-institutional project on genome sequencing is extremely important for establishing the whole genetic make-up of India tea germplasm, in addition to molecular methods like DNA fingerprinting and DNA barcoding.
Source
The Hindu