The Department of Science and Technology - Vaccine and Virology Institute of the Philippines (DOST-VIP) recently engaged in a practical training program focused on Whole Genome Sequencing, with an emphasis on Library Preparation and Bioinformatics Analysis at the Philippine Genome Center Visayas from January 15 to 19, 2024. The training aimed to enhance the participants' expertise in various aspects of Whole Genome Sequencing, including library preparation, data analysis, and bioinformatics.
In the first two days, participants delved into topics such as Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) principles, Sequencing by Synthesis (SBS) technology, and best laboratory practices for high-quality Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) sample preparation. From the third day onwards, the training covered bioinformatics concepts, WGS pipeline, basic coding, bash scripting, read mapping, intrahost mutation calling, SNPs and variant calling, consensus generation, and BLAST and phylogenetic analysis. Hands-on exercises reinforced these concepts.
During the course of the training, several discussions supported the participants' objective of identifying the Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLC) in gathered samples as part of the DOST-ITDI project titled "𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘓𝘈𝘔𝘗-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘬𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘰 𝘠𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘧 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘭 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘶𝘴 (𝘛𝘠𝘓𝘊𝘝) - 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴.”
The training involved the participation of Dr. Elizabeth G. Panerio, project leader of VIP Project 6, along with research assistants Dencee Jean T. Ledesma, Lawrence I. Norte, Ricci Leighn Divine A. Anque, and Jeshua Paul P. Antonino.
PGC Visayas is committed to providing technical assistance, aligning with the participants' project goals, and elevating the capabilities of fellow researchers.
