Team from Princess Haya Biotechnology Centre identifies genomes of COVID variants

Team from Princess Haya Biotechnology Centre identifies genomes of COVID variants

AMMAN “” A team from the Princess Haya Biotechnology Centre at the University of Science and Technology (JUST) decoded the genetic code of a number of the genomes of the emerging coronavirus through the Next Generation Sequencing Technology, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The research was conducted by the team, headed by Said Jaradat, Hazem Haddad, the technical team at the genome unit, and a team from Illumina company, as part of the national efforts to track mutated versions of the virus at the genomic level.

JUST President Saeb Khreisat said that the preliminary results showed the discovery of mutations of the virus, including the one that appeared in the United Kingdom, adding that the centre will decode the genetic code for hundreds of genomes and track any genetic changes related to the spread and strength of the virus and their relation to any clinical changes.

He noted that two protocols were developed: The first for decoding the genetic code of 200 samples using Sanger Sequencing and the second for detecting mutations of the virus using (qPCR-HRM) Curve Analysis.

Expressing his pride in such achievement and describing it as a "quantum leap“, Khreisat stressed that this discovery reflects the "tremendous medical progress that