How the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium sequenced Sars-Cov-2
Consortium of universities and other institutions has harnessed datasets, analytics and cloud computing to sequence Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, in a blisteringly short time
Share this item with your network: By Published: 12 Apr 2021
Genomics, the study of genes, is a field of biology that relies on computing. While the ability to sequence – effectively, read – the human genome has gained much attention, researchers have been quietly working to use the same techniques to track and analyse diseases. This work stepped into the limelight in 2020 by focusing on Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
The coronavirus situation in the UK is quite “contained” but we have to be “vigilant” and make sure it stays under control, an expert has said.
Professor Sharon Peacock, director of the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium (Cog-UK), said the virus may be behaving in a similar way around the world, but no one knows what might happen in the future.
However, she anticipates that Covid-19 vaccines will be able to cope with changes to the virus.
(PA Graphics)
Speaking at a webinar as part of the Royal Society of Medicine’s Covid-19 Series, Prof Peacock said: “We have to be vigilant as ever and make an assumption that at the moment it’s quite a contained situation, but that we have to keep watching every day and every week to make sure that it stays like that.
Coronavirus needs to stay contained and we have to be vigilant, says expert pressandjournal.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pressandjournal.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Author: Sharon Peacock
(MENAFN - The Conversation) The UK is a world leader in sequencing SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Of all the coronavirus genomes that have been sequenced in the world, nearly half have been sequenced by COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium (Cog-UK). The consortium began life on March 4 when Sharon Peacock, a professor of public health and microbiology at the University of Cambridge, emailed a handful of scientists and asked for their help. The Conversation spoke to Professor Peacock about that day and what happened after. Q: When did you first get the idea to set up Cog-UK? And how was it formed?