CSIR strengthens genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in India

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), New Delhi has partnered with the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), a global health non-profit based in Geneva, Switzerland, to aid India’s fight against COVID-19 by boosting sequencing capacity across the country. The partnership aims to decentralise genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, down to the district level by setting up MicroLabs that enable sequencing, analysis and interpretation of sequencing data with minimal turnaround time and infrastructure limited settings.

As a co-lead of the Diagnostics Pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, FIND is supporting India’s efforts towards the establishment of a robust genomic surveillance system. The partnership will provide strategic guidance to incorporate next-generation sequencing into broader national disease surveillance frameworks and inform data analyses, management and sharing based on global data policies and guidelines. It will provide a platform for knowledgesharing and lessons learnt to inform national capacity-building efforts and policy guidance.