![]() Global co-operation is key in the fight against COVID-19 and the UKHSA is proud to play its part. We are hugely grateful to everyone who has worked hard and at incredible speed to make this happen. Sequencing one million genomes is a huge achievement and a testament to the UK’s scientific strength and expertise. The newly established UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will be on the frontline protecting the nation from infectious diseases and other public health threats.īuilding upon the work of NHS Test and Trace over the course of the pandemic, it is responsible for continuing to develop the UK’s whole genome sequencing capability, in partnership with scientific organisations including the Wellcome Sanger Institute and COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium.ĭr Jenny Harries, Chief Executive of UKHSA, yesterday said: The UK is a world leader in genomics, and our scientific experts play a vital role in the global community, sharing their knowledge and findings as part of a worldwide effort to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.Įvery single test sequenced helps us to stay ahead of variants and learn more about this virus. Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid yesterday said: These include identifying the Alpha variant, which helped to explain epidemiological changes in data and transmission.īy tracking the Beta variant, which was first identified in South Africa, the UK was able to detect new cases and prevent widespread transmission. Significant UK discoveries have been made as a result of genomic sequencing throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Genomic sequencing provides a better understanding of how the virus is evolving to help inform the global pandemic response. The GISAID database stores genome sequences from across the world to inform the global pandemic response. The UK has surpassed one million SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences uploaded to the international Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) database, meaning UK represents 24% of all samples uploaded during the pandemic. The UK has now uploaded over one million genome sequences to the international GISAID database, accounting for nearly a quarter of all sequences published globally to date. ![]()
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