Unlock the promise of genomics through HiFi sequencing

The DNA Sequencing Core Facility together with Noveaulab will be hosting a seminar on February 17, 2023, “PacBio Seminar: Unlock the promise of genomics through HiFi sequencing”

Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2023
Time: 1:00 PM Philippine Standard Time
Type: Onsite

Dr. Zuwei Qian, PacBio Director of Marketing for the APAC region will be the presenting the following topics:
HiFi reads: a new era for metagenome analysis
The long and short of it: PacBio sequencing for precision medicine

Detection and Genome Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 Variants Belonging to the B.1.1.7 Lineage in the Philippines

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease that has gained pandemic status from the World Health Organization, with millions of cases and deaths recorded worldwide. This global health crisis is caused by the virus referred to as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a member of the genus Betacoronavirus (Coronaviridae), together with the causative agents of the first SARS outbreak in 2003 and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012.

PGC SARS-CoV-2 Bulletin No. 5: New Variants from UK and South Africa NOT detected in 305 local viral samples

Recently, new SARS-CoV-2 variants were detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa with multiple spike protein mutations that may cause substantial changes in certain properties of the virus. These observations spurred biosurveillance efforts in different countries, with some countries outside of the UK and South Africa already reporting the presence of these new variants within their territories. The data presented in this report is part of our own continuing biosurveillance efforts to track the entry of these new variants in the country, as well as other viral mutations that may be of concern locally.

PGC SARS-CoV-2 Bulletin No. 4: Newly reported variant in the United Kingdom has yet to be observed locally

In a report posted at the Global Initiative for Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) website, the UK variant is said to harbor multiple spike protein mutations within a single sample, including a combination of the following: H69del, V70del(69), Y145del(143), N501Y, A570D, D614G, P681H(674), T716I, S982A, and D1118H (GISAID, 2020). While the discovery of this new UK variant appears to be concerning, the report cautions that the detailed effects of these mutations remain to be fully determined.

Genome Center to help detect nCoV via whole-genome sequencing

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes whole-genome sequencing as a “laboratory procedure that determines the order of bases in the genome of an organism in one process.”

According to CDC, scientists conduct data analysis, which is the fourth step of whole-genome sequencing, to compare “bacterial sequences and identify differences.”