A group of researchers from the U.S. Army Medical Directorate–Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, the University of the Philippines Manila, and the V. Luna Medical Center recently reported 23 new SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences from the Philippines, all of which were from cases of local transmission (Velasco et al., 2020). Among these samples, one was collected in early April while the rest were obtained in the months of June and July.
PGC SARS-CoV-2 Bulletin No.2: Three Possible Routes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Philippines
Majority of the Philippine submissions (18 of 23) were collected in the month of March, wherein except for one sample which clustered with isolates from Shanghai, China, all others were observed to group into clades linked to the outbreak in the cruise ship, M/V Diamond Princess, moored in Yokohama, Japan in early February 2020. Later that month, passengers and crew members of this cruise ship representing various nationalities including Filipinos, Indians, and Australians were repatriated to their home countries.
PGC SARS-CoV-2 Bulletin No.1: Philippine Genome Center Reports Detection of the D614G Variant of SARS-CoV-2 Virus in the Philippines
COVID-19 or the Coronavirus Disease 2019 is caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus, the genome of which is a single-stranded positive sense RNA that is about 30,000 bases long. It contains 11 genes and several regions have been known to be immunogenic, including different parts of the Spike (S) protein, the Nucleocapsid (N) protein, as well as the Membrane (M) and Envelope (E) proteins, which have therefore been targeted for vaccine development.
DNA Sequencing Core Facility resumes its services on July 1, 2020
Walk-ins will not be accommodated. Please email the lab and arrange drop-off appointment within the provided schedule and wait for confirmation prior bringing your samples to PGC.
PGC Core Facility for Bioinformatics releases six (6) genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 from Philippine samples between March 22-28, 2020
The Philippine Genome Center (PGC) thru its Core Facility for Bioinformatics (CFB) releases today to the global community through the GISAID database six (6) genomes of the SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Philippine samples taken in Metro Manila between 26 to 28 March 2020.
UPIS students to take part in Bioinformatics Internship Program at PGC
The Philippine Genome Center is facilitating a Bioinformatics Internship Program for incoming and current Grade 11 students of the University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) slated on June 8-19, 2020.
Overcoming Challenges and Building Opportunities with Bioinformatics
The 2020 Bioinformatics Conference aims to bring together researchers, students, and professionals from the field of genomics and bioinformatics. Themed “#BioInfoPH: Overcoming Challenges, Building Opportunities”—the conference intends to surface the complexities of conducting bioinformatics and genomics research in the Philippines and therein address these challenges through the conference forum.
MicroRNA and mRNA interactions coordinate the immune response in non-lethal heat stressed Litopenaeus vannamei against AHPND-causing Vibrio parahaemolyticus
During its first outbreak, the devastating effect of early mortality syndrome (EMS) on the global shrimp industry was primarily caused by the lack of information regarding the disease and its causative agent.
Draft Genome Sequence of Multidrug-Resistant Vibrio parahaemolyticus Strain PH698, Infecting Penaeid Shrimp in the Philippines
The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacterial strains in diverse settings has been reported globally. In the Philippine shrimp aquaculture industry, antibiotics are used for the treatment of bacterial diseases during the production cycle. We report the draft genome of Vibrio parahaemolyticus PH698, a multidrug-resistant strain isolated from a Philippine shrimp farm.
Draft Genome Sequence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus Strain PH1339, Which Causes Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease in Shrimp in the Philippines
Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), which affects multiple shrimp species, including the economically important Penaeus monodon and Penaeus vannamei, is characterized by massive sloughing of the epithelial cells of the hepatopancreas to the point of atrophy (1).