“There is a need to expedite the viral genome sequencing efforts to further check the prevalence of the new variant in India. We have used the traditional ‘Sanger’ sequencing method as well as the modern Next-Gen sequencing tools in testing for the presence here from samples collected among international travellers from United Kingdom,” said CCMB scientist Divya Tej Sowpati leading the coronavirus genome sequencing efforts at the institute here. By tracing and testing 33,000 passengers, who have flown in to India from the UK, India was able to confirm its presence here. CCMB is one of the 10 research institutes tracking and tracing the new variant in the country. The director also said it is “very important to launch an extensive genome surveillance of the virus to assess the extent of the spread of the new virus.

Source: The Hindu December 29, 2020 18:44 UTC