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At the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad, emerging and establised stars are getting their ‘Genomepatras’ or their personalised genetic report.
The objective is to improve their fitness — physical, mental and emotional — to face the tough, competitive global arena via a better understanding of their genetics.
Making this possible is Mapmygenome, a personal genomics and molecular diagnostics company, in collaboration with the academy. India’s recent crop of global players including Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Parupalli Kashyap, Sai Praneeth, Prannoy, and Kadambi Srikanth — who won a unique double-Indonesian and Sydney Super Series championships in a week — are all trained by Pullela Gopichand, who himself is a former All England Open Badminton Champion.
Mapmygenome and Gopichand Academy have created an athlete-oriented genetics report. In a pilot, select athletes have been tested for genetic information to create a report called ‘Genomepatri Fit’.
Following this, extensive genetic counselling sessions have been held with the player, physical trainer, physio, sports nutritionist and genetic experts to chart out lifestyle and dietary changes to reach optimum fitness and health levels.
Mapmygenome has completed the genome maps of some of the top players at the academy, and is working at integrating genomics into regular sports training and talent nurturing, said Anu Acharya, CEO, Mapmygenome.
The association with the academy began before the Rio Olympics, 2016. “We feel it can help in improving reaction time on court, learning from mistakes, selecting the best food based on genetic make up. For example , if some athlete is found to be Gluten intolerant, then the correct food can be provided”, Acharya told BusinessLine .
The Gopichand Academy’s popularity peaked when PV Sindhu won Silver Medal in badminton at the Olympics. According to Amit Malik, member of the Management team at the academy, as part of the intense training, all factors which help in minimising injury and ensuring total physical, mental and emotional health are welcome. In this direction, the academy has partnered with Mapmygenome on a pilot scale to assess the utility of genetics in training.
He said “Leveraging genetic information for improving athletes’ performance is in very early stages. It is useful in athletics where event-mapping can be easier through genetic information. Badminton being a very skill-oriented sport has seen diverse set of top players with different genetic make-up”.
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