SUM Hospital to study genome sequence of novel coronavirus

BHUBANESWAR: The Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, which has been chosen as a clinical trial site for the Covid-19 vaccine, has taken up the most advanced next generation sequencing study of SARS-CoV-2 virus in collaboration with the Delhi-based Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB).

The IGIB is a part of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India.

“Keeping the pandemic situation in mind, the project’s objective will be to understand the Covid-19 molecular structure and the transmission pattern in the state,” Dr Jayashankar Das, director (research) of IMS and SUM Hospital, said.

The genome study is considered to be the most advanced one for any therapeutic and diagnostic development. It requires highly-skilled personnel for the analysis,” Das added.

Dr. Das, the lead investigator of the project, further said the SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing would be carried out to not only understand the transmission ability, mutation and evolution of the virus, but also for developing quick strategies for effective screening and new diagnostics. “Six clusters of human coronavirus were randomly found in India. Of them, the presence of four has been confirmed in different parts of Odisha. We propose to conduct the sequencing of 500 viral genomes to understand the mild, moderate and critical coronavirus cases, along with its transmission capabilities,” Das added.

“The research, which has received the approval of the Institutional Ethics Committee at the hospital, will try to isolate the genes responsible for the transmission of the virus as it was fast spreading,” Das said.

Das added that the focus would be to understand the genomic evolution, transmission pattern and infection capabilities of SARS-CoV-2. It will help in bringing improvement in existing molecular diagnostic kits.