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COVID-19 Research

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McGill Genome Centre – How We Can Help

The exceptional circumstances caused by COVID-19 have united the research community at McGill University, as well as other institutions in Montreal and the province of Quebec in general, towards trying to understand this deadly virus and finding vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tools for this lethal disease.

The McGill Genome Centre is centrally involved in many of these activities and is committed to collaborating with other researchers and institutions, through its world-class expertise in human genomics and genetics, and state-of-the-art facilities in high-throughput and advanced genomics technologies.

We are actively involved in 3 main areas of COVID-19 research:

Quebec COVID-19 Biobank

Dr. Vincent Mooser, has been tasked with leading a provincial biobank for the collection, storage and sharing of over 10,000 samples and the accompanying data. The McGill Genome Centre is the central hub for this biobank, storing and maintaining DNA and RNA samples collected from across the province.

Patient Sequencing

Genomic DNA and RNA will be extracted from COVID-19 patients for analysis by a variety of assays including exome-sequencing, whole-genome sequencing, and transcriptome sequencing. The large population cohort will allow us to identify host genetic susceptibility and determinants to disease progression and severity.

SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing

Viral RNA from approximately 4000 patients will be sequenced to identify potential differences in viral transcriptome and links to disease progression and severity. Comparison with already known COVID-19 will aid in tracking the evolution and migration of the virus, and help better understand its propagation.

We are currently engaged in a number of COVID-19 collaborative efforts with researchers funded through MI4, FRQS, and other agencies. This page will be updated shortly, and will continue to be as more projects are approved. If you have COVID-19 projects that you would like to discuss, please contact us for more information to see how the McGill Genome Centre can help.

PLEASE CONTACT US FOR HELP WITH YOUR COVID-19 RELATED PROJECTS
pm.genome@mcgill.ca