MGI's "Super Sequencer" Helps Sweden's National Pandemic Center Monitor COVID-19 Mutations

The head of the National Pandemic Center, Dr. Jessica Alm, notes "the super sequencer flown in from China, boasts a sequencing throughput eight (8) times more than other sequencers." Professor Lars Engstrand from KIsays that, "our current focus is on monitoring the UK's COVID-19 mutations, but the attention is also being paid to other mutations that may occur. At the same time, as Sweden has now rolled out its vaccination program, we also need to track those strains that may not be sensitive to the vaccine."

STOCKHOLM, 10/02/2021 (informazione.news - comunicati stampa - scienza e tecnologia)

The head of the National Pandemic Center, Dr. Jessica Alm , notes "the super sequencer flown in from China , boasts a sequencing throughput eight (8) times more than other sequencers." Professor Lars Engstrand from KIsays that, "our current focus is on monitoring the UK's COVID-19 mutations, but the attention is also being paid to other mutations that may occur. At the same time, as Sweden has now rolled out its vaccination program, we also need to track those strains that may not be sensitive to the vaccine."

Professor Engstrand also notes that "high-throughput sequencing enables us the access to the full sequence of a virus, and we can identify mutations accurately, and trace and monitor the virus. Through sequencing of the host (human) of a virus in multi-omics dimensions, it can also help us better understand the pathogenesis and provide an important reference for clinical diagnosis and vaccine development." He adds, "For sudden outbreaks of novel infectious diseases of an unknown origin, high-throughput sequencing, as a mature genetic testing technology, has achieved a good balance in terms of accuracy, comprehensiveness, cycle time, throughput, availability, and cost, and has become a fundamental tool for relevant scientific research."