In this interview, Teresa Cutino-Molgual, Virology Clinical Lead, at Barts Health, talks to NewsMed about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the awareness of the term 'viral sequencing'.
Sponsored Content by BGI GenomicsMay 4 2023Reviewed by Olivia Frost insights from industryTeresa Cutino-MolgualVirology Clinical LeadBarts Health In this interview, Teresa Cutino-Molgual, Virology Clinical Lead at Barts Health, talks to NewsMed about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the awareness of the term 'viral sequencing'.
We have been using it for several years to test things such as antiviral resistance. However, with the onset of the pandemic, it became apparent that it is an extremely useful tool that clinicians can use almost directly at the bedside. We have sharing platforms that allow you to not only sequence your samples and generate data but to compare and share it with other people, which is the main power of sequencing, to be able to know what it means.
What are some of the biggest challenges you currently face in viral sequencing? One of the biggest challenges in viral sequencing is the cost. When you work in the public sector, everything has to be cost-effective and be of direct benefit, improving healthcare and patient care. Sequencing is still relatively expensive when considering other available things, such as a diagnostic lab.
There is a lot more in terms of collaboration that you can establish when you get to know people, and these meetings allow you to do that. It is not just about what happens in the presentations and the questions afterward, but also that other level of interaction that I think is important. Ultimately, most scientific work is based on shared interests, personal communication, or teamwork.
We have lots of people contributing from all backgrounds, including religious backgrounds, because we were trying to make it as accessible, representing as many people as possible. A lot of it involves viral sequencing, but other areas we are looking at are, for example, studying and understanding the immune system and response to viral infections in the patients we see.
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