Genome sequencing facility begins in Rohtak

Sunit Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, December 30

Genome sequencing of Covid commenced in Haryana today with the inclusion of a Rohtak-based laboratory in the Indian SARS-Cov-2 Genomics Consortium and the Rohtak PGIMS authorities sending RNA samples for sequencing.

“We have sent the first batch for next-generation sequencing,” said Prof (Dr) Dhruva Chaudhry, Haryana State Nodal Officer (SNO) for Covid-19, while talking to The Tribune here today.

Detection to help vax development

Detecting Covid variants which spread rapidly, have greater severity and cause high mortality will help in tweaking the existing anti-Covid vaccines and developing the upcoming ones. —Prof (Dr) Dhruva Chaudhry, State nodal officer for covid-19

The RNA extraction is being carried out at the virology section of the Department of Microbiology at the Rohtak PGIMS and the Genome Sequencing Laboratory at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) in Rohtak, he added.

“The Department of Biotechnology of the Union Ministry of Science and Technology has approved the inclusion of the Genome Sequencing Laboratory (GSL) of the MDU in the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG),” states an official communiqué released here today.

As per medical experts, genomic sequencing is essentially required to identify the strain of the virus so as to ascertain which variant of the virus is spreading more rapidly and causing more damage.

“Detecting Covid variants which spread rapidly, have greater severity and cause high mortality will help in tweaking the existing anti-Covid vaccines and developing the upcoming ones,” said Dr Chaudhry, who is a senior professor and Head of the Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Pt Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences (UHS), Rohtak.

He exhorted people not to let their guard down after getting themselves vaccinated and observe Covid-appropriate behaviour to prevent infection.

MDU Vice-Chancellor Prof Rajbir Singh said Prof AK Chillar, Director (Research) at the university, would co-ordinate the INSACOG activities.

“With the approval of the DBT, MDU’s Next-Gen Genome Sequencing Laboratory (NGSL) will be able to perform genome sequencing of clinical Covid-19 RNA samples,” he stated.

The NGSL has been established with the financial aid of Rockefeller Foundation and set up by PATH organisation. The laboratory is well-equipped to perform the application of genomic sequencing in multiple fields.