Noblis announced on Wednesday that scientists from the company and the Defense Biological Product Assurance Office (DBPAO), a component of the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND), have identified unique genetic sequences of the international Wuhan coronavirus.
“Noblis is pleased to collaborate with our customers to accelerate the virus detection process and combat the coronavirus outbreak,” said Amr ElSawy, president and CEO, Noblis. “Our scientists and technical experts are using advanced analytics, bioinformatics and high-performance computing solutions for biosurveillance and other areas which are contributing to global public health and safety.”
Noblis and DBPAO scientists used BioLaboro, a Noblis application developed for rapidly designing de novo (new) assays and validating existing PCR detection assays, for research and discovered four highly specific sequences which are unique to the new coronavirus and are in disparate locations across the genome.
The four BioLaboro assays were compared to four assays from a German group (Corman and colleagues) as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The four Noblis assays were found to be in different locations in the genome sequence compared to the other assays.
As new whole genome sequences of the Wuhan virus are added daily, there is an ongoing need to immediately evaluate the effectiveness of existing assays and to design new ones when signature erosion is observed.
Noblis and DBPAO are using new data submissions to continue to monitor signature erosion in the Wuhan virus with BioLaboro. The updates are being posted on Viological.org.
About Noblis
Noblis is a dynamic science, technology, and strategy organization dedicated to creating forward-thinking technical and advisory solutions in the public interest. We bring the best of scientific thought, management, and engineering expertise together in an environment of independence and objectivity to deliver enduring impact on federal missions.
Noblis works with a wide range of government clients in the defense, intelligence and federal civil sectors. Together with our wholly owned subsidiary, Noblis ESI, we tackle the nation’s toughest problems and support our clients’ most critical missions.
