CHANDIGARH: The process to start whole genome sequencing in PGI has been standardised and now, the institute is waiting for supply of reagents from the US. During the process of standardisation, it was found that results were comparable and the decision to proceed was taken. The department of virology had been using the test on the paediatric population of PGI for standardisation.
“As the machine and its consumables are expensive, procurement will take time. Normal procurement procedures take longer for equipment worth over crores,” said a PGI official.
It is possible to analyse the entire genetic material of an organism using the sequence. With the tool, one can understand how the virus has been evolving and mutating. At present, PGI has to send its samples to the NCDC laboratory in New Delhi for genome test. Since the laboratory gets a number of samples from across the country, test reports take around a month or so to arrive.
Sequencing helps with surveillance as variants can be detected and regulatory steps can be taken. “We can understand if there is any mutation and variants of concern or interest. Accordingly, planning can be done. However, the sequencing will not start before October, when the third wave is predicted,” said an official in PGI.
The PGI has demanded from the outsource agency that the procedure should include library preparation, quality check sequencing and bioinformatic analysis of 60 samples for SARS COV 2 whole genome sequence by next generation sequencing. The sequencing should cover 99% of the whole genome of SARS Cov 2 and be able to detect all known viral variants.
