DBT & CSIR sequenced 1 thousand plus SARS-CoV-2 viral genomes

Recently, Minister of Science &Technology has announced that Indian scientists from DBT & CSIR have sequenced more than 1000 SARS-CoV-2 viral genomes making it the largest effort in the country. This will help in understanding the prevalent strains and the mutation spectrum in India, which will help in diagnostics, drugs and vaccines.

Key-Points

A genome is an organism’s complete set of DNA, including all of its genes. Each genome contains all of the information needed to build and maintain that organism. In humans, a copy of the entire genome more than 3 billion DNA base pairs is contained in all cells that have a nucleus.

A genome sequence is the complete list of the nucleotides (A, C, G, and T for DNA genomes) that make up all the chromosomes of an individual or a species.

Viral genomes can be composed of either RNA or DNA.

The genomes of RNA viruses can be either single-stranded or double-stranded RNA, and may contain one or more separate RNA molecules.

DNA viruses can have either single-stranded or double-stranded genomes. Most DNA virus genomes are composed of a single, linear molecule of DNA, but some are made up of a circular DNA molecule.