Top
Skip to Content
LOGO(small) - Queen's University Belfast
  • Our x-twitter
  • Our facebook
LOGO(large) - Queen's University Belfast

Wellcome-Wolfson Institute For Experimental Medicine

  • Home
  • Our Research
    • Research Themes
    • Find a PhD Supervisor
  • Our People
    • Key Contacts
    • Academic Staff
    • Fellows
    • Research Staff
    • Technical Staff
    • Administrative/Clerical Staff
    • Emeritus Professors
    • Opportunities
    • Visiting Students
  • Our Place
    • Facilities
    • Seminar Series
    • The Barcroft Lecture
    • The Annual Kenneth B. Fraser Memorial Symposium in Infection Biology
    • Green Impact
  • Outreach
    • Balmoral Show
    • Northern Ireland Science Festival
    • Learn@Lunch 2022-2023
    • Pint of Science
    • UNISTEM Belfast 2025
    • Apply for Work Experience
    • Research Placements and Experiences - STEM Learning
    • NI Multiple Sclerosis Research Network
  • Education and Training
    • Postgraduate Degrees
    • Masters in Biomedical & Clinical Research
    • Undergraduate Degrees
    • Summer Student Programme
    • iEngage Online Summer Student Research Programme
    • Postdoctoral Development Programme
    • Short Courses
  • News
    • WWIEM Newsletter
  • Innovation
  • Impact
  • COVID-19
  • Donate
  • Home
  • Our Research
    • Research Themes
    • Find a PhD Supervisor
  • Our People
    • Key Contacts
    • Academic Staff
    • Fellows
    • Research Staff
    • Technical Staff
    • Administrative/Clerical Staff
    • Emeritus Professors
    • Opportunities
    • Visiting Students
  • Our Place
    • Facilities
    • Seminar Series
    • The Barcroft Lecture
    • The Annual Kenneth B. Fraser Memorial Symposium in Infection Biology
    • Green Impact
  • Outreach
    • Balmoral Show
    • Northern Ireland Science Festival
    • Learn@Lunch 2022-2023
    • Pint of Science
    • UNISTEM Belfast 2025
    • Apply for Work Experience
    • Research Placements and Experiences - STEM Learning
    • NI Multiple Sclerosis Research Network
  • Education and Training
    • Postgraduate Degrees
    • Masters in Biomedical & Clinical Research
    • Undergraduate Degrees
    • Summer Student Programme
    • iEngage Online Summer Student Research Programme
    • Postdoctoral Development Programme
    • Short Courses
  • News
    • WWIEM Newsletter
  • Innovation
  • Impact
  • COVID-19
  • Donate
  • Our x-twitter
  • Our facebook
In This Section
  • WWIEM Newsletter

  • Home
  • Wellcome-Wolfson Institute For Experimental Medicine
  • News

News

Sequencing of SARS-CoV2 – Uncovering an ever-changing virus

Researchers at Queen’s are working as part of the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK), which has been backed by a £20 million investment from government to perform whole genome sequencing of the SARS-CoV2 virus.

Belfast is one of a network of centres throughout the UK involving academic institutions and public health agencies which has been sequencing samples from local confirmed cases of COVID-19.  The Belfast hub is led by Belfast Health and Social Care Trust’s Dr Derek Fairley (Regional Virus Laboratory, RVL), Dr Tanya Curran (RVL) and in Queen’s University Belfast by Dr David Simpson (the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine (WWIEM)).

Dr David Simpson, WWIEM, explains, “Sequencing the SARS-CoV2 virus that causes COVID-19 is a really important addition to the routine testing used to determine whether the virus is present. The virus changes or ‘mutates’ over time and we can use these changes in the DNA sequence to build up a ‘family tree’ that indicates how the isolates from different COVID-19 patients are related to each other. This information can then be used to track the spread of the virus through the community and guide development of vaccines and therapies.

We are working with samples at a local level and then feeding our results into the Consortium each week. By pinpointing specific genetic changes, we can identify new clusters and chains of infection.  The results will support track and trace, which will be key in the recovery phase.”

Of almost 30,000 UK SARS-CoV2 virus sequences released by the Consortium to date, 486 are from Northern Ireland. Many viral lineages that became common on the mainland and subsequently declined have been identified through the whole genome sequencing effort. While some of these more   common viral lineages have also been identified in Northern Ireland (NI), Dr Simpson and the team have also identified several lineages found almost exclusively in NI. The Centre for Genomic Pathogen Surveillance maintain a website which shows the lineages circulating in the UK. As a fuller picture of the genetic makeup of the virus in NI is developed, it will be easier to track new lineages.

Dr Simpson’s team use the latest long read ‘nanopore’ technology to sequence samples more quickly than conventional approaches. Samples can be processed in batches of 24 or individually for even more rapid results. This enhanced turnaround time will be valuable in combatting any second peak of infections.

Sequencing COVID-19

Watch Dr David Simpson explain how Derek Fairley and Dr Thomas Thompson process COVID-19 samples for sequencing at the WWIEM.  

The Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine (WWIEM)

Share
Latest News
  • Queen’s academic awarded prestigious Professorship
    22 May, 2024
  • Professor Pascale Cossart of Institut Pasteur Receives Barcroft 2020 Medal
    4 May, 2022
  • Resource launched illustrating COVID-19 variants across Northern Ireland
    8 February, 2022
  • New research will focus on repurposing existing anti-viral therapies to treat patients with COVID-19
    31 January, 2022
  • Non-invasive ventilation for COVID-19 patients isn’t linked to heightened infection risk
    5 November, 2021
News
  • WWIEM Newsletter
QUB Logo
Contact Us

Wellcome-Wolfson Institute For Experimental Medicine

School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences
Queen's University Belfast
97 Lisburn Road
Belfast
BT9 7BL

Tel: (+44) 028 9097 1643
Email: wwiem@qub.ac.uk

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Our Research
  • Our People
  • Our Place
  • Education and Training
  • Opportunities

 

© Queen's University Belfast 2024
  • Privacy and cookies
  • Website accessibility
  • Freedom of information
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
  • University Policies and Procedures
Information
  • Privacy and cookies
  • Website accessibility
  • Freedom of information
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
  • University Policies and Procedures

© Queen's University Belfast 2024

Manage cookies