GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE CONSORTIUM

GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE CONSORTIUM

Subject: Science & technology

Context: In the wake of a mutated variant of coronavirus detected in the UK, a genomic surveillance consortium has been formed for laboratory and epidemiological surveillance of circulating strains of the SARS-CoV-2 in India, the Centre said on Saturday.

Concept:

• Indian government has set up a genomic surveillance consortium – Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) – under National Centre for Disease Control to detect the any circulating variants in the country.
• The Central government said that more than 50 samples of returnees from the UK, are currently undergoing genome sequencing at the designated laboratories across the country.
• The overall aim of the proposed consortium is to monitor the genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2 on a regular basis through a multi-laboratory network.

Pertinent objectives of the consortium:

• To ascertain the current status of new variant of SARS-CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2 VUI 202012/01) in the country
• To establish a sentinel surveillance for early detection of genomic variants with public health implication
• To determine the genomic variants in the unusual events/trends (super-spreader events, high mortality/morbidity trend areas etc.)

India’s Action Plan

• The country has ten regional genome sequencing laboratories, which will cater to their nearest states.
• The states will send 5% of the positive samples to these labs for genome sequencing.
• The data generated would then be analyzed by the respective centres and sent to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi for collation and integration.
• The data from the genome sequencing laboratories will be analyzed to study the linkages (if any) between the genomic variants and epidemiological trends.
• This will help to understand super spreader events, outbreaks and strengthen public health interventions across the country to help in breaking the chains of transmission

Genomic Sequencing

• Genome sequencing refers to sequencing the entire genome of an organism.
• It involves taking a “genetic fingerprint” of an organism and maps how the DNA or RNA inside it is ordered.
• Looking at the genetic sequence of different cases, we can detect differences in each new infection and detect variations or mutations.