'Another Wave of Variants'... How Much Has Asia Advanced Its Weapon Technologies? [Tech Talk]

Scientists Who Have Studied COVID-19 Variants
Real-Time Tracking Enabled by Advances in Genetic Analysis
Predicting Outbreaks and Preparing Vaccines in Advance

Recently, as COVID-19 infections have increased in Asia, particularly in China, Thailand, and Singapore, the Korean government is also closely monitoring the situation. The COVID-19 variants currently spreading in Asia are 'LP.8.1' and 'NB1.8.1'. Both are subvariants of 'Omicron', which emerged at the end of 2021 and caused global concern.

Over the past five years, COVID-19 has resurged in various mutated forms. However, the preparedness of health authorities in each country is now different from before. It has become possible to predict which variants will become prevalent several months in advance, and vaccines can be prepared accordingly. This is the result of rapid advancements in genetic analysis technology during the recent pandemic.

Two Weapons Against COVID-19: Diagnostic Testing and Genetic Analysis

A citizen receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in 2022. Not related to any specific expression in the article. Photo by Yonhap News.

Five years ago, we identified infected individuals through COVID-19 diagnostic tests and curbed the spread of infection by isolating them for two weeks. These diagnostic tests used a genomics technology called 'polymerase chain reaction (PCR)'. Meanwhile, the international scientific community responded to COVID-19 with another genomics technology?whole genome sequencing (WGS).

Both PCR and WGS are technologies that detect genes in pathogen samples. However, their purposes differ. PCR amplifies and detects genetic fragments to determine the presence of specific pathogens. Simply put, it is a tool for finding the 'genetic fingerprints' that pathogens leave in our bodies. WGS is a technology that scans the DNA of all living organisms with genes, including humans, animals, and viruses. While PCR is useful for identifying infected individuals, WGS is a tool for uncovering the true nature of COVID-19.

(From top, clockwise) Illumina, Oxford Nanopore, MGI gene analyzers. Screenshots from Illumina, Oxford Nanopore, and MGI websites.

Since 2020, advanced bio nations such as the United States and European countries have poured research funding into WGS, and organizations dedicated to tracking COVID-19 variants have been established in various countries. The UK's COG-UK is a representative example. It originally began as a voluntary group of university scientists, but in 2021, it received official government support and began full-scale activities, becoming the pioneers who developed the initial COVID-19 variant tracking technologies and datasets. Subsequently, similar organizations were established in other countries, and in Korea, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency adopted WGS in 2022.

Variants Tracked in Real Time: The Achievement of Five Years of Struggle

It is possible to analyze the distribution of viruses by conducting genetic analysis on domestic wastewater samples. Photo by PBS News YouTube capture

WGS utilizes advanced devices known as 'gene analyzers'. These machines decode the DNA code of living organisms using chemical or electrical reactions. Today, only a handful of companies manufacture these analyzers: Illumina (United States), Thermo Fisher (United States), Oxford Nanopore (United Kingdom), and MGI (China). In fact, the gene analyzer market is essentially a three-way competition among the United States, China, and the United Kingdom. Last year, as the US-China trade war intensified, the US House of Representatives passed a bill sanctioning Chinese gene analyzer manufacturers.

Gene analyzers, which are regarded as strategic technologies, are at the core of variant tracking. Since the pandemic, variant tracking technology has advanced significantly. For example, scientists can use wastewater samples to assess the current status of COVID-19. Wastewater contains various human secretions such as saliva and feces, and the presence of COVID-19 can be detected in these secretions. By using gene analyzers to calculate the proportion of COVID-19 genomes in samples, it is possible to estimate how many viruses are latent within a city. 'Air surveillance' technology, which captures and analyzes airborne viruses, is also being utilized.

Air surveillance equipment capable of detecting viral genomes through air filters. Screenshot from Nanyang Technological University Singapore website.

WGS is not simply a tool for determining the prevalence of specific variants. It can also closely analyze how much new variants have mutated from the original COVID-19 virus, and this data allows scientists to assess the characteristics of the variants and whether vaccines may be rendered ineffective. If a new variant has undergone significant mutations, vaccines can be updated accordingly.

COVID-19 remains a contagious virus, and because high-risk groups remain vulnerable to infection, continued vigilance is necessary. This is why health authorities on May 30 urged, "Seniors aged 65 and older and residents of high-risk facilities should get vaccinated even now." However, unlike five years ago?when it was impossible to even infer the identity or characteristics of the virus?now, it can be tracked almost in real time. This is a remarkable achievement by the life sciences community in its years-long battle against the pandemic.