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EDITORIAL
GENEWS
Genomics Against Pandemics: Combating COVID-19 through PH Genomics and Bioinformatics by DANIEL VARIAS (Isochore)
S
olving the COVID-19 pandemic afflicting the Philippines could be within the genes. Through a researchbased approach employing the science of genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics, the country should gain the upper hand in the current battle against SARSCoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. Thus, the country must heed the need for such approach.
Scientists, both locally and internationally, delve on the sequence variations to find regions with little to no mutations where the vaccine could target. To continuously contribute to the scheme and to ensure that the virus isolated in the country is susceptible to the vaccine, isolated viral samples which are isolated more recently should be sequenced.
The National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) advocated for approaches grounded on science and technology to the administration. A part of NAST’s suggestion involved conducting local researches in genetics. Specifically, the institution asserted that the country should contribute to globally accessible databases on the molecular structure of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from Filipino patients.
Also, as the new study on SARSCoV-2 mutation rate suggests, the base substitution of thymine to cytosine or guanine, cytosine to guanine, and guanine to thymine gains an increment of 0.1% in mutation rate. This relatively low yet continuous rate of the virus is good news for vaccine development, hence latest samples of the virus from Filipino patients must be sequenced to make the most of this news.
In response to this, the Core Facility for Bioinformatics of the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) already contributed six viral genome sequences from local samples obtained within March 22-28 to GISAID database (gisaid. org). Through this initiative, the sequences submitted to the database will be crucial for vaccine development, as it serves as a reference for international institutions racing to discover a vaccine.
However, despite this discovery, complacency has no place in dealing with the virus. The latest study from Florida’s Scripps Research Institute suggested that SARS-CoV-2 mutated into a more infectious variant through a D614G mutation in the spike protein, and a study from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico detected the mutation that enabled the virus to be more infectious in the United States and European countries.
October 2020 In the local setting, we should further investigate into the variant the Philippines has to know its current status, i.e. whether our variant mutated into a more severe one or not. To effectively do so, the Philippine government must include the support for the country’s initiative in bioinformatics in its priorities, aiding in increasing the facilities’ capacity through added equipment and resources, in just compensation towards our laboratory personnel, among others. Furthermore, NAST also urged the country’s scientists to study genetic markers in the Filipino genome that imply effects on the infection and SARS-CoV2’s virulence towards Filipinos. Results from biomarker research shall provide information on the people’s susceptibility to the virus and may provide therapeutic approaches specialized towards the Filipino population inflicted with COVID-19. For example, researchers in Italy suggest that variations in the genes encoding for Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) may explain how the virulence of SARS-CoV-2 differs from northern Italy to southern Italy, where the latter experienced less severe symptoms than the former. Again, there is a need for similar information about the Filipino genome to aid in our battle against COVID-19, thus we incessantly implore the government’s concrete support in conducting local genomic studies. Scientific and medical problems require solutions of the same nature. Thus, utmost priority must be imposed on the scientific and research-based recommendations raised by the country’s institutions. After all, the key to defeating the pandemic that is devastating the country at present may be in the genes waiting to be seen.
