The IAEA/FAO genetic sequencing service
The Joint FAO/IAEA Centre launched its genetic sequencing service – available at no cost – five years ago to enable countries to perform sequencing for in depth analysis of pathogens. Since then, more than 5 300 samples have been submitted by 30 laboratories from 24 countries across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Latin America. African swine fever, astrovirus, avian influenza, capripox, coronavirus, lyssavirus, Newcastle disease, porcine circovirus 2, peste des petits ruminants and West Nile virus are the ten most frequent pathogens sequenced.
“Installing genetic sequencing technologies in local laboratories is quite expensive,” Naletoski said. “There is not a massive need to sequence every single isolate, only a few samples from selected outbreaks are needed. In terms of economic feasibility, it is wise to enable a pipeline for counterparts to have access to a sequencing service.” The IAEA has developed and disseminated step-by-step technical instructions to process raw data and generate phylogenetic trees for locally circulating pathogens based on results provided.
The Joint FAO/IAEA Centre hosted training courses for laboratories on how to use the service in 2017 and 2018 in Morocco and Argentina, respectively. A virtual introductory course for the generic sequencing service is scheduled under the Zoonotic Disease Integrated Action (ZODIAC) initiative at the end of April 2022, which will be followed by face-to-face trainings.
The benefit of service is twofold. On the national level, the service plays a role in disease monitoring programmes. On the global level, the service supports studies and contributes to genetic sequencing databases accessible to the global scientific community. Thus far, more than 30 articles have been published in peer-reviewed journals based on results obtained through the sequencing service with tens of sequences published on the open-source global databases, GenBank and GISAID.
Read more about the IAEA's work in transboundary animal and zoonotic diseases.
