Genetic mapping champion Iceland leads the way in COVID sequencing

Iceland has genetically sequenced all of its positive COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, an increasingly vital practice as disturbing new strains emerge from Britain and South Africa.

The World Health Organization on Friday urged all countries to step up genome sequencing to help fight emerging variants.

Scientists at the Icelandic biopharmaceutical group CODE Genetics’ laboratory in Reykjavik have worked tirelessly over the past 10 months, analyzing every positive coronavirus test in Iceland at the request of the country’s health authorities.

The aim is to trace each case to prevent problematic cases from falling through the net.

“The actual sequencing takes us relatively little time,” says lab manager Olafur Thor Magnusson, adding that “around three hours” is enough to determine the strain of the virus.

The whole process, from DNA isolation to sequencing, can take up to a day and a half, and has enabled Iceland to identify 463 distinct variants – which scientists call haplotypes.

Before sequencing, the DNA from each sample is first isolated and then purified using magnetic beads.

The samples are then transported to a massive, bright room filled with equipment, where a deafening sound emanates from small, scanner-like machines.

The machines are gene sequencers that map the genome of the novel coronavirus.

World leader

Inside each machine is a black box called a “flow cell”, a glass slide containing the DNA molecules.

This technology has played an important role in Iceland since the start of the pandemic.

“The sequencing of the samples is essential to help us monitor the state and evolution of the epidemic,” Health Minister Svandis Svavarsdottir told AFP.

Authorities have used the sequencing information to decide on specific and targeted measures to curb the spread of the virus, she said.

Although the South African variant has not been detected in Iceland, 41 people have been identified as carriers of the British variant.

All of them were arrested at the border – where PCR tests are performed on travelers – effectively preventing transmission of the variant on the subarctic island.

DNA identification also made it possible to establish a clear link between visitors to a pub in central Reykjavik and the majority of infections during a new wave in mid-September – leading authorities to shut down bars and clubs night of the capital.

The sequencing also identified a separate strain of two French tourists who tested positive on arrival in Iceland and who were initially accused – wrongly – of being the cause of the September surge.

All of the roughly 6,000 COVID-19 cases reported in Iceland have been sequenced, making it the world leader in COVID sequencing.

While several countries, such as Britain, Denmark, Australia and New Zealand achieve high levels of sequencing, none of them come close to Iceland’s levels, although statistics worlds are incomplete.

Child’s play

So why are Iceland so far from the game?

Gene mapping is deCODE’s specialty.

Founded in 1996, the company performed the largest genetic study ever on a population.

For a 2015 study on cancer risk factors, he sequenced the entire genome of 2,500 Icelanders and studied the genetic profile of a third of the then 330,000 population.

Compared to that, sequencing COVID-19 samples is a cinch.

“It is very easy to sequence this viral genome: it is only 30,000 nucleotides, it is nothing”, ironically Kari Stefansson, the founder and CEO of the company, 71 years old.

By comparison, the human genome normally analyzed in its laboratories is made up of 3.4 billion pairs of nucleotides, or organic molecules, he adds.

While Iceland’s rigorous sequencing has been helpful in tracking the spread of the virus, it has yet to yield major scientific discoveries for deCODE.

“While there are differences between viruses with different model mutations, they are not very obvious. Not obvious enough for us to understand, ”Stefansson says.

© 2021 AFP