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?
In late February 2020, it dawned on me that we were going to need genome sequencing capabilities across the UK for the novel coronavirus. It was predictable that the virus was going to develop mutations that could become problematic.