The declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic has once again put to the forefront the need for international collaborative efforts to contain the spread of the disease. It has also created an acute need for tools to be deployed for epidemiology, surveillance and molecular contact-tracing.
It is heartening to note that the genomics community is at the forefront of data and resource sharing during this tough times. Genome sequences of SARS-nCoV-2 are being been deposited now by many countries in open databases, resources and institutional and national repositories.
The advent of high-throughput next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have made it possible to multiplex large numbers of viral genomes for sequencing . Coupled with standard pipelines for the analysis and assembly, this provides a unique opportunity to offer a scalable and affordable solutions for epidemiology and contact tracing across the country. An approach of sentinel surveillance using whole genome sequencing could thus provide insights into contacts and origins of disease in community infection, thereby providing the much required data to contain the spread of the disease.
The genomic datasets could provide a variety of information on the genetic epidemiology of COVID-19. This includes understanding of evolution of the SARS-nCoV-2 virus. The evolution of the virus would be important to understand unique properties of the virus including pathogenicity, which are of clinical and epidemiological relevance and for public policy.
Additionally genome sequences of SARS-nCoV-2 can inform about the mutation rate of the virus which would allow effective tracing of the origins of the virus through molecular phylogeny. As of date, over 10 clades of the virus have been characterized , with strong geographical affinities, thereby enabling identification of index cases, and contacts in clusters of patients, especially in community infections. Additionally, the genome map allows to understand the genetic variants in critical genomic regions identified by diagnostic primers as well as immunogenic sites - with implications in development of better diagnostics and better vaccines.
Collection of information in a systematic format would enable a number of researchers to readily access, analyse and also make meaningful conclusions, which could potentially impact policy in the short while, and discovery of novel therapeutics and vaccine candidates in the long run.
The COVID-19 Genomepedia is an initiative in this direction. The resource is maintained by the Vinod Scaria Lab at CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology and created as part of the COVID-19 Open Research , Data and Resources Initiative.
It is heartening to note that the genomics community is at the forefront of data and resource sharing during this tough times. Genome sequences of SARS-nCoV-2 are being been deposited now by many countries in open databases, resources and institutional and national repositories.
The advent of high-throughput next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have made it possible to multiplex large numbers of viral genomes for sequencing . Coupled with standard pipelines for the analysis and assembly, this provides a unique opportunity to offer a scalable and affordable solutions for epidemiology and contact tracing across the country. An approach of sentinel surveillance using whole genome sequencing could thus provide insights into contacts and origins of disease in community infection, thereby providing the much required data to contain the spread of the disease.
The genomic datasets could provide a variety of information on the genetic epidemiology of COVID-19. This includes understanding of evolution of the SARS-nCoV-2 virus. The evolution of the virus would be important to understand unique properties of the virus including pathogenicity, which are of clinical and epidemiological relevance and for public policy.
Additionally genome sequences of SARS-nCoV-2 can inform about the mutation rate of the virus which would allow effective tracing of the origins of the virus through molecular phylogeny. As of date, over 10 clades of the virus have been characterized , with strong geographical affinities, thereby enabling identification of index cases, and contacts in clusters of patients, especially in community infections. Additionally, the genome map allows to understand the genetic variants in critical genomic regions identified by diagnostic primers as well as immunogenic sites - with implications in development of better diagnostics and better vaccines.
Collection of information in a systematic format would enable a number of researchers to readily access, analyse and also make meaningful conclusions, which could potentially impact policy in the short while, and discovery of novel therapeutics and vaccine candidates in the long run.
The COVID-19 Genomepedia is an initiative in this direction. The resource is maintained by the Vinod Scaria Lab at CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology and created as part of the COVID-19 Open Research , Data and Resources Initiative.
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