A New Level of Genome Sequencing Unlocked

It is impressive how far we have come in terms of genome sequencing. The first draft genome sequence of SARS CoV-2 was posted online on January 10, 2020 by Dr. Eddie Holmes, Ph.D. a virologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Sydney. Dr. Holmes took only weeks to produce the data and post it online. It’s a great omen that it is not a discrete event as the first draft genome sequence of the monkeypox virus, from a swab of a confirmed case of the current outbreak, was released late last week.

While Reuters reports more than 100 confirmed/ suspected cases of monkeypox virus, according to an update released by the European Union’s disease agency, the number of confirmed cases of monkeypox worldwide has reached 219 outside of countries, where it is endemic. The scientific community has already published the first draft sequence of the monkeypox virus. Dr. João Paulo Gomes, Ph.D., a researcher from the department of infectious diseases, National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), in Lisbon, Portugal, posted the sequence online on virological.org.

The swab was collected from skin lesions from a patient on May 4, and it was sequenced using the Oxford Nanopore MinION. According to the findings, the Monkeypox virus is an enveloped double‐stranded DNA virus with a genome size of around 190 kb. It belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family. The scientific community was quick to celebrate and congratulate the fast efforts of Dr. Gomes. The post on virological.org received an almost immediate response from all across the globe.
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