2021 ACMG Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting - Product Theaters-Evolving Insights on the Genetics of COVID-19

Video Transcription

Video Summary

Dr. Brian Kruger, an associate vice president of research and development at LabCorp, discusses the work his team has been doing to perform national pandemic surveillance using whole genome sequencing. LabCorp, which has a broad reach across the country for specimen collection, has unique access to samples required for tracking the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants. LabCorp's success in developing a high-throughput PCR assay for SARS-CoV-2 testing has provided them with unparalleled access to samples for real-time tracking of the virus spread. They have developed an automated sequencing pipeline using PacBio's HiFi platform to sequence thousands of samples per week. The sequencing data is used to identify mutations and variants of the virus and track their prevalence across different regions of the United States. LabCorp's surveillance efforts have detected new variants, including the South African and New York variants, and are crucial in understanding the virus and guiding vaccine and therapeutic development. The data generated by LabCorp's surveillance efforts is shared with the CDC and other organizations to support the national response to the pandemic.

Asset Subtitle

Labcorp

Keywords

Dr. Brian Kruger

LabCorp

national pandemic surveillance

whole genome sequencing

SARS-CoV-2 virus

variants