Dasa creates the largest genomic bank of SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil to fight Covid-19

SÃO PAULO, Aug. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dasa, the largest integrated healthcare network in Brazil, stands by its commitment to research and science and creates Genov, a scientific project of genomic surveillance by sample sequencing. With the purpose of tracking the genetic evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in real time in Brazil, 30 thousand complete coronavirus genomes will be sequenced in up to 12 months. BRL 4.8 million will be invested in the project which is yet another of Dasa's contributions to the general and scientific community.

"This is a powerful tool to fight Covid-19 that impacts the control of the global health crisis. The systematic and representative sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 increases our knowledge of the virus, as well as enables the tracking and blocking of people in direct contact with carriers and the assessment of reinfection, persistence and severe cases in patients outside risk groups," explained Dasa's medical director, Gustavo Campana.

The first results are available on the Genov hotsite as the others monthly reports. The data generated will be released in public domain and deposited, immediately, without time privilege at GISAID, the global scientific database.

"Transparency in data management will help to better monitor the pandemic. We have dedicated our human, technical and operational resources and our physical genomic structure to make the project viable and create a milestone for Brazilian science and for the benefit of global society," stated Dasa virologist, creator and leading researcher of the Genov project, José Eduardo Levi.

Information from the project could help generate data on the prevalence, emergence, impact and possible emergence of new Variants of Interest (VOIs) and of Concern (VOCs). They will also help in the assessment of cases of vaccine escape, besides helping with the creation of public policies and effective countermeasures, such as isolation and vaccination plans, for example. 

The initiative was approved by the National Research Ethics Commission (Conep) and counts on the support of a scientific committee formed by virologists, immunologists, infectologists, clinical pathologists, data scientists and bioinformaticians. The specialists will select the samples, deriving from Dasa's diagnostic medical labs in Brazil, that will be sequenced with basis on clinical, immunological and epidemiological criteria - one of the most important assumptions as it considers the incidence of the disease in the past month in each region of the country.

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SOURCE Dasa