Next-Generation Sequencing at The Frontline of The COVID-19 Battle

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) refers to sequencing technologies developed a few decades after the first-generation sequencing, known mainly as Sanger method, developed by the British biochemist Fred Sanger and his colleagues in 1977. The Sanger method can process sequencing only of a single DNA fragment at a time, in contrast, NGS enables the analysis of an entire genome in a single sequencing experiment without the need of cloning. Hence, NGS rendered sequencing much faster and cheaper. For instance, the first sequencing of the entire human genome (lunched in 1990) using Sanger method cost more than $3 billion and took more than 13 years to accomplish. In contrast, NGS enables nowadays whole genome sequencing in hours and for less than $1000. Time- and cost-efficiency of NGS has enabled the implementation of whole genome sequencing as affordable, indispensable, and powerful routine tool in clinical medicine and public health. The role of NGS in the battle against COVID-19 is an example