Course: A Practical Guide for SARS-CoV-2 Whole Genome Sequencing

Most of the current knowledge on diseases and the consequent diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities is based on the study of biological samples and the data associated with them. Following the …

To ensure that SARS-CoV-2 genomic data are as useful as possible, they should be accompanied by appropriate metadata. Curating metadata and sharing them locally or publicly can be time-consuming, but …

Here we outline one potential ARTIC workflow example. It must be noted that many different approaches, kits and methods have been used throughout the pandemic to good effect. Commercial kits …

Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 allowed for the rapid identification of the virus and the development of diagnostic tests and other tools for a rapid response to the pandemic. The sequences were …

Targeted approaches for viral WGS and comparison with metagenomics Although billions of copies of a pathogen genome may be found in a sample, as viral genomes are substantially smaller than …

The gold standard for diagnosis or detection of viral infection is targeted PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to amplify and detect small regions of the DNA or RNA of specific viruses. …

How did Nanopore Sequencing start? The concept of using a protein nanopore as a method to read DNA was first realised in 1989 by Professor David Deamer (Figure 1). Since …

Illumina dye sequencing is a molecular technique for determining the base pair sequence in DNA. It was developed by Cambridge University’s Shankar Balasubramanian and David Klenerman, who later founded Solexa, …

Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth, and they significantly impact living organisms by causing diseases and shaping their immune systems. The study of viral infectious diseases in …

Size and structure of viral genomes The size of viral genomes varies nearly a thousandfold from the smallest to the largest. There are DNA viruses along the entire gradient, starting …

COG-Train Programme In collaboration with Wellcome Connecting Science, COG-Train aims to develop and deliver a total of 5 online training courses covering: The power of genomics to understand the COVID-19 …

Glossary of less known terms used in this course Adaptors: a short chemically synthesised single or double-strand DNA (oligonucleotide) used in some sequencing methodologies that allow the addition of a …

A useful range of COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 additional resources Coronavirus biology: ViralZone Coronavirus taxonomy: International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) SARS-CoV-2 replication cycle by Sultanas, Inc Real-time tracking of …