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Genomic surveillance has been crucial in monitoring the evolution and spread of SARS-CoV-2. In Andalusia (Spain), a coordinated genomic surveillance circuit was established to systematically sequence and analyze viral genomes across the region. This initiative organizes sample collection through 27 hospitals, which act as regional hubs within their respective health districts. Sequencing is performed at three reference laboratories, with downstream data analysis and reporting centralized at a bioinformatics platform. From 2021 to 2025, over 42,500 SARS-CoV-2 genomes were sequenced, enabling the identification of major variants and their evolutionary dynamics. The circuit tracked the transition from Alpha and Delta to successive Omicron waves, including both recombinant and non-recombinant clades. The integration of genomic and epidemiological data facilitated rapid variant detection, outbreak investigation, and public health decision making. This surveillance framework at a regional granularity demonstrates the feasibility of large-scale sequencing within a decentralized healthcare system and has expanded to monitor other pathogens, reinforcing its value for epidemic preparedness. Continued investment in genomic surveillance is critical for tracking viral evolution, guiding interventions, and mitigating future public health threats.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13040912 | DOI Listing |
Nat Biotechnol
September 2025
European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK.
The size of microbial sequence databases continues to grow beyond the abilities of existing alignment tools. We introduce LexicMap, a nucleotide sequence alignment tool for efficiently querying moderate-length sequences (>250 bp) such as a gene, plasmid or long read against up to millions of prokaryotic genomes. We construct a small set of probe k-mers, which are selected to efficiently sample the entire database to be indexed such that every 250-bp window of each database genome contains multiple seed k-mers, each with a shared prefix with one of the probes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Rev Urol
September 2025
Department of Genitourinary Oncology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL, USA.
Low-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer is a specific category of bladder cancer with a favourable prognosis; however, its management presents several challenges. The risk of stage progression is very low, but approximately half of patients will experience recurrence within the first 5 years after diagnosis. This high propensity for recurrence, coupled with the threat of progression, mandates ongoing surveillance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCommun Med (Lond)
September 2025
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bio21 Institute and The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Background: Mixed-species, mixed-strain plasmodia infections are known to occur in humans in malaria endemic areas. It may be surprising that to date, the extent of this complexity has not been systematically explored in high-burden countries of sub-Saharan Africa, especially in the reservoir of asymptomatic infections in all ages, which sustains transmission.
Methods: Here we take a metagenomic lens to these infections by sampling variable blood volumes from 188 afebrile residents living in high, seasonal transmission in Northern Sahelian Ghana.
J Immunother Cancer
September 2025
Affini-T Therapeutics Inc, Watertown, Massachusetts, USA.
T-cell receptors (TCRs) recognize antigens derived from fragments of somatically expressed proteins that are degraded by the proteasome and presented by specific human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules. Recent therapeutic advances using the TCR as a tumor-targeting moiety have focused attention on loss of heterozygosity (LOH) as a potential resistance mechanism. Allele-specific LOH, rather than allele-agnostic, is particularly pertinent, but rarely evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Allergy Clin Immunol
September 2025
Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, USA. Electronic address:
Background: Genetic control of gene expression in asthma-related tissues is not well-characterized, particularly for African-ancestry populations, limiting advancement in our understanding of the increased prevalence and severity of asthma in those populations.
Objective: To create novel transcriptome prediction models for asthma tissues (nasal epithelium and CD4+ T cells) and apply them in transcriptome-wide association study to discover candidate asthma genes.
Methods: We developed and validated gene expression prediction databases for unstimulated CD4+ T cells and nasal epithelium using an elastic net framework.