2021 Project: University of Minnesota

Minnesota sequencing of SARS-CoV-2: a unified state and regionwide SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance effort

What to know

The University of Minnesota provided real-time next-generation sequencing and analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in Minnesota. Awarded in 2021, this project established the University of Minnesota Genomics Center (UMGC) as a regional SARS-CoV-2 sequencing hub and facilitated a low-cost and high-output genomic sequencing method. In addition, the project provided research on how the host and virus interact with one another during infection, as well as the potential for reinfection.

Decorative image with words "2021" and "SARS-CoV-2"

Findings on SARS-CoV-2 surveillance and investigations

Researchers created a cost-effective and highly scalable tailed amplicon method for SARS-CoV-2 sequencing.1 They then used this method to sequence >7,500 SARS-CoV-2 samples from across the Midwest. Researchers also made this protocol and the primer pools used to carry out the method available to laboratories in the SPHERES consortium.

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Content Source:
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID)
  1. A Rapid, Cost-Effective Tailed Amplicon Method for Sequencing SARS-CoV-2. BMC Genomics, 2020.