It is an honor to be featured by Clinical Lab Manager where I discuss how Next-Gen Sequencing can be leveraged in the fight against COVID-19.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has challenged healthcare systems across the globe. While lockdowns and social distancing measures helped slow the spread, they are not long-term solutions. Most experts agree that widespread testing and contact tracing are essential to safely reopening society—especially before a vaccine can be made widely available. However, traditional testing methods only detect whether a person is positive or negative. To truly understand and contain outbreaks, more detailed insights are needed.
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) offers a powerful solution. By sequencing the virus in individual patients, we can trace the path of transmission and identify how one case is connected to another. This information is critical in high-risk settings like hospitals, where understanding the origin of infections can guide immediate and effective containment efforts.
At Golden Helix, our software supports this level of precision. In collaboration with a German hospital system, we were able to use NGS data to identify two distinct infection clusters. This enabled the hospital to tighten specific infection control procedures and prevent further spread. These tools make it possible to automate phylogenetic analysis and visualize transmission chains quickly and clearly.
The value of this work extends beyond local outbreak control. Global databases like GISAID and GenBank allow researchers to track SARS-CoV-2 mutations and transmission routes around the world. With the help of NGS, scientists are gaining deeper insights into the virus’s evolution and using that knowledge to improve diagnostics and guide future treatments.
You can access this article directly by visiting https://www.clinicallabmanager.com/thought-leadership/leveraging-next-generation-sequencing-technology-in-the-fight-against-covid-19-22584.
If this is an area of interest for your organization, please reach out to our team and we would be happy to discuss this in more detail.