India begins working on Genome Sequencing of COVID-19

The CCMB (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology), CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) and IGIB (Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology) are working on genome sequencing of COVID-19.

Highlights

The Genome Sequencing is being done to understand the evolution of the virus. This will help to learn about the future aspects. The blood samples of COVID-19 positive patients are to be collected and sent to the centres. The sequencing process requires large amount data. Currently, GoI is stepping into the phase of collection of data. It is expected that in another 3 to 4 weeks the researchers will isolate at least 200 to 300 strands.

The National Institute of Virology, that was first in the country to isolate the virus has been requested with to provide virus samples collected from different places.

About Genome Sequencing

The Genome Sequencing is used to determine complete DNA Sequence of an organism. The Genome Sequencing will also help to learn about family tree of the virus. The virus are classified based on their morphology, mode of replication, nucleic acid type, host organism and type of diseases caused by them.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2020