RESEARCHERS PEAK INSIDE FIRST SOUTH AFRICAN SARS-COV-2 GENOME

Published on

6 April 2020

Researchers from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and UWC’s South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI) have sequenced the first SARS-COV-2 genome in South Africa.

They say it provides a genetic “fingerprint” that can help us understand – and contain – the spread of COVID-19.

More sequencing, more analysis will follow.

“This work will be an important part in giving our colleagues at the NICD and in the public health sector more tools to trace the spread of the disease and stop that spread. And ultimately, this work can also contribute to producing a vaccine against COVID-19.”

Liesl Smit

Liesl is the Smile 90.4FM News Manager. She has been at Smile since 2016, with nearly 20 years experience in the radio industry, including reading news, field reporting and producing. In 2008 she won the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award, Western Cape region. liesl@smile904.fm