COVID-19 Open Research, Data and Resources: An initiative to generate accessible information related to COVID-19 in India
Aswini | 28 March 2020
Little did we know that a microbe, 120nm in diameter could bring down the world. SARS-96-3+69 Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), known for ‘Coronavirus disease 2019’ (COVID-19) has almost brought the busy, fast running world into a stand-still. Of the seven strains of human coronavirus known, this has recorded the largest number of deaths up to 18,589 people and a total of 416,686 confirmed cases as of 2:00 pm, 26.03.2020, according to WHO.
This is the first time we have witnessed this virus. The reproduction number of SARS-CoV-2 (R0 value), is calculated as 2.2. It indicates that each patient can transmit the infection to 2.2 individuals. The symptoms of COVID-19 include high fever, dry cough and shortness of breath. The test done for COVID-19 is a PCR to find the genetic footprint of the virus from the nose or throat swabs of the patients. Up to 108 centres in India perform the testing for COVID-19.
Researchers around the world are struggling to come up with faster and cheaper diagnostic tools, generate vaccines, and find drugs for treatment. The US announced its first clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, on 17th March 2020. Oxford University has begun a clinical trial of different drugs for possible therapy. Montreal Heart Institute in Canada has initiated a clinical trial for short term therapy for mitigating the risk and death of the pulmonary complication (2). Many countries have sequenced the viral genome, which is publically available for research purpose and are also involved in generating drugs and vaccines against COVID-19.
India, on 25th March 2020, announced its first indigenously developed COVID-19 testing kit, which was developed by a Pune-based molecular diagnostics company, Mylab Discovery Solutions Pvt Ltd. The kit screens and detects the infection in 2.5 hours (3).
For effective treatment or vaccine development, the clinical and scientific data generated has to be easily accessible for the researchers. Though the information is available, they are not under one roof.
Dr Vinod Scaria Lab at CSIR- Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, has started an initiative called the COVID-19 Open Research, Data and Resources. The aim of the initiative is to create an accessible setup of COVID-19 related data, research analysis and resources available in India. As part of the initiative, volunteers have put together all the relevant links to various important resources. The lab has multiple projects organised towards this initiative which includes SARS-CoV-2 genome analysis, understanding the genetic epidemiology, modelling of the epidemic at the National level and assessing the impact of early interventions. The initiative is also working towards providing ready reference to analyse the coronavirus inhibitors reported in the public domain and their chemical landscapes. Along with this, the initiative aims at understanding the pharmacogenomic (the likely response of an individual to therapeutic drugs) landscape of Indians towards the reported drugs. An app (COVID19 CONNECT), developed provides updated information on the COVID-19 situation in India.
People from different disciplines of science, who wish to contribute to the initiative can directly mail Dr Vinod Scaria with a brief description of your skill and motivation. Find out more details at http://vinodscaria.rnabiology.org/covid-19.
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