THE AVESTAGENOME PROJECT™ Needs Every Parsi’s Help
THE AVESTAGENOME PROJECT™ is a large-scale biological study that has as its main goal the search for the basis of Longevity and the higher incidence of certain diseases seen in the Parsi/Irani-Zoroastrian population. In addition the study will result in archival of the genome of the population and the creation of a medical database of the Parsi/Irani-Zoroastrian community. The output from this study will lead to molecular diagnostics and drug targets for predictive, preventive personalized healthcare for the community and the world.
THE AVESTAGENOME PROJECT™ is undertaken by a leading biotechnology company Avesthagen Ltd. (Bangalore) whose Founder, Chairman and Managing Director is our very own Navsari born entrepreneur, Dr. Villoo Morawala-Patell.
The study would also look into the increased incidence of certain diseases such as Cancers, Diabetes, Heart related ailments, Alzheimer’s, etc. which will aid in developing novel drugs and diagnostics. The age group for blood collection is 18+ to 90+ years.
With this aim in mind we seek your support and co-operation on this project. Please come forth and donate a sample of your blood at our blood collection center. In doing so, please be assured that there will be no risk to your overall health. All the information provided by you will be kept strictly confidential.
We once again urge you to turn up, in large numbers, between the date and time listed below at your convenience, and help us in this very unique but essential scientific endeavor, which, you will agree, is a rare opportunity, for doing better for our future generations.
Venue: Delhi Parsi Anjuman, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Delhi Gate, New Delhi 110 002
Blood collection dates: 7th August to 11th August 2010
hello my persian brothers and sisters.i want to donate blood,my age is 21 and my blod group is AB+ive.now tell me how i can donate my blood my brothers and sisters.my contact no is 9953752597.have a gud day.
Dear Gaurav,
Thank you for your offer, but this is not a blood donation camp, but a research project, and all samples are only being collected for scientific purposes.
Please note that the AvesthaGen project is extremely ambiguous about its scope or aim. They have gone to baugs in Bombay and taken 9 veils of blood from lactating mothers, women who have low blood pressure and old persons. And given them the “informed consent forms” AFTER having extracted blood and left.
This practice is extremely shady at best. They make claims such as this will “benefit the parsi community” however, when you read the “consent forms” you get an idea of the manipulation involved. Avesthagen is only interested in developing and exploiting a commercial tool, for which the Parsi Community’s homogenous population is a convenient population sample.
I would like to warn people of this before they decide to donate any sample of blood for this process… Please think twice, and I will send you my complaint letter and the farce of replies that I received from Ms. Viloo Morawalla-Patel and her team.