A SARS-CoV-2 tracker uses publicly available sequencing data to show how the virus is changing and spreading over time. The tracker, called CovMT, was developed at KAUST and is expected to help researchers and policymakers understand the evolution of the virus’s mutations. This could have implications for vaccine development, patient treatment and the implementation of restrictions.

“As new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus emerge, authorities around the world need to know if these, or similar variants, have entered their countries,” says computational biologist, Intikhab Alam, who designed the CovMT system with a team in KAUST's Computational Bioscience Research Center. “The World Health Organization is stressing to all countries to ramp up their sequencing efforts. With this increase in sequencing, we expect CovMT will help researchers, the public and policymakers to explore up-to-date country-specific information on sequencing efforts, evolving virus variants and disease severity.”

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Image: KAUST computational bioscientists have developed an interactive platform to track SARS-CoV-2 mutations, including their prevalence, spread and infectiousness globally.
© 2021 KAUST/Nanographics/Tsinghua University