“If you can’t do bioinformatics, you can’t do biology. “
When bioinformatics James D. Tisdall wrote this in 2003, biologists faced a dramatic increase in genomic knowledge thanks to the advancement of sequencing technology.
To manage thousands of genomic sequences, bioinformatics, which integrates biology, computing and statistics, has temporarily become an essential tool. Covid-19 virus.
With more than ten million people inflamed worldwide, thousands of viral genomes are sequenced and deposited every day. The only way to make sense of this deluge of knowledge and gain an advantage in the fight against COVID-19. is bioinformatics.
This is where experts such as Dr. Sebastian Maurer-Stroh, Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Bioinformatics (BII) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A-STAR) in Singapore come into play.
Since the full SARS-CoV-2 series was known in January 2020, Maurer-Stroh and her team have been looking for mutations to deduce what is imaginable beyond and in the long run of the epidemic.
“For the first five months, we did daily reports on the dating of phylogenetic trees from viruses,” Maurer-Stroh said. “When new diversifications appeared, we were the first to know and say what they were. “
One of the reasons the team was able to react so temporarily that it relied on the previous experience used to monitor influenza, i. e. an online bioinformatics tool called FluSurver. temporarily stumbling upon flu mutations.
Similarly, CoVsurver is helping researchers recognize mutations in downloaded sequences, annotate their effects, and highlight mutated regions of interest in studies in three-dimensional structural models.
As of August 2020, the platform had more than 91,000 viral genomes to analyze. By tracking mutations in these genomes, Maurer-Stroh discovered that the differences between SARS-CoV-2 strains were small in the early stages of the epidemic.
However, between February and March 2020 other genetic equipment of the virus began to emerge, and the clinical importance of these differences is yet to be seen.
”If a mutation is in an express component of the design near where a drug is joined, it would possibly be how the drug might work’,’ Maurer-Stroh explained. Another highly monitored region is the virus receptor binding site, which can also be adjusted. the interaction between the virus and its host cell.
In collaboration with colleagues at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore, Maurer-Stroh contributed to the progression of the Fortitude kit, an accurate diagnosis for SARS-CoV-2.
Since then, more than 40 countries around the world have implemented the kit, highlighting how bioinformatics can have a genuine effect on the world.
Learn more about Asian Scientist magazine at: https://www. asianscientist. com/2020/08/features/asias-changemakers-sebasArray. .