Genomic sequencing and public digital health

In an interview article with the WHO (World Health Organisation), Professor Tulio De Oliveira, the South Africa-based Director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) and Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) said that: “Genomic sequencing has been very important for the Covid-19 response. New variants are forming all the time, so genomic data has guided countries to make quick and informed public health decisions since the start of the pandemic.”

Adopting cutting-edge technology, tools and innovation in public health and medicine is no easy task, yet many companies are doing great work contributing to the society and the challenging world that we all live in right now. Among them, MGI, which has been playing a vital role in combating Covid-19, has opened the door to digital health through its highly effective genomics sequencing technologies.

An interesting fact about MGI is that it enabled the discovery of the first case of the omicron variant in Sweden and Saudi Arabia. In addition to the detection and surveillance of omicron in South Africa wastewater, MGI has also supported other nations to detect the first cases of the variant in their country.

As a biotech company with a primary focus on high throughput genetic sequencers and lab automation systems, MGI’s technologies such as MGISTP-7000 have delivered incredible results in the fight against Covid-19. MGISTP-7000 is a high-throughput automated sample transfer processing system that is specially designed for nucleic acid detection in the Covid-19 pandemic. Integrated with tube decapping, tube recapping, barcode identification, automated liquid transfer and negative pressure protection, the system allows lab staff to load and transfer up to 192 potential testing samples to plate in just 40 minutes, all done with just one click and zero human contract. This scales up testing capacity while reducing the risk of infection for lab technicians. The increase in efficiency also means lower testing costs. BIOR, one of Latvia’s leading COVID-19 testing labs, estimated that the cost of one saliva test could reduce from the current €38 to €25, with the use of automatic virus nucleic acid extraction equipment in Latvia.

Now most of the world is adapting and learning how to live with the presence of Covid-19, rapid testing and DNA sequencing are paramount for laboratories across the globe. And automation capabilities can be utilized extremely efficiently on our path to the new normal. In particular, I would like to draw your attention to how mobile testing brings highly valuable efficiency Covid-19 testing to the mass population.

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By João Bocas - The Wearables Expert ™

Keywords: Big Data, Digital Transformation, HealthTech