Talking to reporters, the officials expressedconfidence that the findings will help in developing medicinesor vaccines needed to stop the spread of the deadly virus,which has wreaked havoc across the globe.
With this, the Gandhinagar-based GBRC has become thesecond institute in India after the National Institute ofVirology (NIV) in Pune to decode the entire genome sequence ofthe virus, they said.
"The Gujarat government-run GBRC has become the secondinstitute after the Pune-based NIV to decode the entire genomesequence of COVID-19 virus. Many research institutes in thecountry are trying to do it," state Principal Secretary(Health) Jayanti Ravi said.
She said the breakthrough is a matter of pride forGujarat.
"The first genome sequence of the COVID-19 virus wasfound by Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention inBejing on January 10. It was made public by China. After that,the GBRC has also done it here. It has found total ninemutations in its genome sequence," she said.
"However, six of the mutations were already found byother research institutes around the world. Three mutations,out of the total nine found by the GBRC, are new and it willhelp in determining how the virus is changing in ourconditions," Ravi added.
GBRC director Chaitanya Joshi said the virus mutatesso as to survive in different conditions.
"We had taken the sample from a COVID-19 patient fromhere and worked on it," he said.
"The virus mutates in order to adapt to and survive indifferent situations. It mutates when medicines try to controlit. This virus is mutating fast," he said.
"After establishing the genome sequence from onesample, our studies are on. We have collected around 100samples from patients in different parts of Gujarat. We willanalyse the genome in them and after that formulate a strategyto fight the virus," he said.
Joshi said that finding out the genome sequence willhelp in developing medicines and vaccines to fight the virus.
"We will first try out different compounds in lab teston virus. Once effective compounds are found, we can take itforward for trials," he said.
"All living beings, be it humans, animals, plantsor even viruses, their basic structure is found in the DNA orRNA. Many viruses have DNA or RNA (ribonucleic acid). Thisvirus has RNA," he said.
The state government officials said that the genomesequence found out the GBRC will be shared with the scientificcommunity. PD NPNP NP