The world lacks a global radar to detect diseases

The need to speed up vaccines remains to combat the “Corona” mutations.

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Despite the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron strain, there is one bright spot we shouldn't ignore.

This new strain and its genetic sequence were quickly discovered in South Africa, which immediately alerted the rest of the world that it carried a large number of mutations and may be faster transmitters and more immune-evading than previous mutations.

And what scientists in South Africa have done is provide a glimpse into the future we need, which is a global early warning system that uses genetic system monitoring to detect and monitor disease changes and spreads based on the sequences of the entire genetic system, which produces a blueprint made of the smallest building blocks of life. This information can be transferred quickly and used to develop treatments and vaccines. However, such monitoring does not yet exist on a global scale, but South Africa and Britain have demonstrated the importance of this.

The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, learned about the new strain from the director of the Center for Epidemic Resistance and Innovation, Tulio de Oliveira, who has spoken since the beginning of the pandemic about the need for tools of the virus' genetic system for early warning and surveillance. When the Omicron strain began to appear in new cases on November 11, South Africa was ready. In June 2020, it established the Genetic System Monitoring Network, linking its laboratories and research institutes. The South African network quickly compared the genetic system of the new strain with other strains, and discovered the largest number of mutations, including the spiky protein that enables the virus to enter human cells, and then relayed this information to the World Health Organization and scientists around the world.

Ideally, these networks should be on standby everywhere and at all times. The United States is developing its use of the genetic system for monitoring and tracking strains during the pandemic, but it is still lagging behind some other countries. The need for global cooperation in public health, the idea of ​​this week's special session at the World Health Organization, has long been hampered by countries' refusal to share samples and information, and funding for surveillance, and by scattered epidemiological and clinical information separated from genetic systems, which makes it difficult Where to connect the dots together. The Rockefeller Foundation announced that it will invest $1 billion to help create a broad platform to overcome these obstacles.

Even more important is the need to speed up vaccinations around the world.

Scientists will determine in the coming weeks whether the Omicron strain is an indicator of new dangers, even as the delta mutation continues to plague the United States and the world.

It is time to take advantage of the genetic system, and exchange information to create a powerful global active radar for disease surveillance, or else we will fly blind in the face of another dangerous storm.

• What scientists in South Africa have done is provide a glimpse into the future we need, which is a global early warning system that uses genetic system monitoring to detect and monitor disease changes and spreads based on the sequences of the entire genetic system.

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