Sayak Banerjee, Amity University Kolkata
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) among Hokkaido University, Shionogi & Co. Ltd., Robotic Biology Institute Inc., and iLAC Co. Ltd., led to the setting up of an automated system for the study of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. The focus of the collaborative project is towards the establishment of an automated methodical system that enables mass diagnosis by early detection of the frequency of viral disease and mutants, depending upon wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). The operation of the analysis is scheduled to initiate in April 2021 or later.
It is said that SARS-CoV-2 could proliferate by infecting intestinal epithelial cells and has been found in the faeces of a major proportion of infected individuals including those without gastrointestinal symptoms. SARS-CoV-2 exuded in the faeces of COVID-19 patients finally accumulates at wastewater treatment plants. Hence, research into WBE of SARS-CoV-2 obtains population-level epidemiological information by regular supervision of the virus in wastewater. This research has been at a good pace across the world. WBE has been described to be very helpful for the early detection of the spread of COVID-19. It also confirms the successful alleviation of the disease frequency in a given area.
Since there have been a smaller number of cases of COVID-19 infection per capita in comparison to the United States and some European countries, the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 in Japanese wastewater tends to be lesser than those in other countries. Hokkaido University and Shionogi came up with a joint research agreement in October 2020 for the development of a virus detection method with enhanced sensitivity. This highly sensitive method for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater has been successfully developed.
For the social execution of WBE, the immediate necessity is the establishment of a high throughput analysis system of the collected wastewater samples. Due to this reason, the Robotic Biology Institute, Inc. (RBI), and iLAC Co. Ltd., have joined the existing alliance between Hokkaido University and Shionogi. RBI inherits the technology for automated detection of SARS-CoV-2 and library preparation for next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis using LabDroid “Maholo,” an adaptable humanoid robot made in Japan. iLAC can interpret genomic information (e.g., viral genome mutations) based on huge NGS analysis. They would aid in the development of an automated analysis system for WBE of SARS-CoV-2. The four associations have entered into the MOU toward the social execution of WBE.
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