How genomic surveillance can be an early warning system where coronavirus variants emerge – Japan Today

Genomic surveillance programs have let scientists track the coronavirus over the course of the pandemic. By testing patient samples, researchers are able to diagnose COVID-19. But theyre also able to use genetic changes in the virus to recreate its travel routes and identify the emergence of new viral variants.
As microbiologists, we examined how quickly the coronavirus genome has mutated during the pandemic and then figured out how quickly these changes led to new cases and rapid disease spread.
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