It’s official. The ancient Indian knowledge of Ayurveda medicine has molecular basis.

A team of scientists at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) here, led by K Thangaraj and others from various institutions, has conclusively proved the genomic basis of Ayurveda, Ch Mohan Rao, Director of CCMB told newspersons at a press conference here.

The findings have been published in the journal ‘Nature’ on October 29. The six-year research project collected blood samples from over 3,400 people in the age group of 20–30. Ayurvedic physicians screened them, and the same set of people were also screened by AyuSoft software, developed by C-DAC, Bengaluru. 

Isolation of DNA and genomic studies were carried out using Affymetrix 6.0 SNP chip. When the data was plotted, it fell into three groups, establishing the molecular basis for ancient Ayurvedic classification of three ‘doshas/prakritis’ or biological energies/humors found in the human body, namely Vata, Pitta and Kapha.

Mohan Rao said, “These studies should eventually lead to establishing Ayurveda on sound footing along with modern medicine.”

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