COVID-19 VIRUS MUTATION TRACKER!!! - KAUST Research

Genomics have been playing a vital role in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, with global teams of researchers sequencing more than half a million genomes of the SARS-CoV-2 virus so far. These efforts generate vast amounts of data, which are daunting for researchers trying to track the most worrying mutations, especially those in the receptor binding domain of the spike protein that enables the virus to infiltrate cells.

This is where computational scientists come to the fore. A team led by Intikhab Alam at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia has developed an online system called CovMT that continually gathers data on newly sequenced genomes. Their website allows users to generate maps and timelines showing the evolution of the virus at global, continental or country-specific levels.