FIND has partnered with CSIR-IGIB (Institute of Genomics and Integrated Biology) to help India fight COVID-19 by boosting sequencing capacity across the country.
The partnership aims to decentralize genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 by setting up “MicroLabs”. These will enable sequencing, analysis and interpretation of sequencing data with minimal turnaround time and infrastructure limited settings.
The goal is to optimize and scale the capacity needed to identify SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) and variants of interest (VOI).
The partnership will also identify genomic hotspots and mutations associated with disease severity that are critical for surveillance and public health action.