About genomic surveillance
Genomic surveillance is a new, evolving, rapid, standardised and efficient way to understand how diseases are changing and spreading.
By tracking the evolution of pathogens, and presenting the findings in simple, accessible visuals, GPAS gives public health and other decision makers the information to make data-driven decisions about public health interventions.
By providing the SARS-CoV-2 tool free at the point of use in low and middle income countries, we are playing our part in contributing to better global public health decisions and data-driven health policy making.
What is a pathogen?
Pathogens are disease-causing organisms, including viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. These microbes include pieces of genetic code known as DNA or RNA.
Why track pathogen spread?
To date, there is no universally accepted approach to tracking pathogens, making rapid sharing of information and comparison of results a challenge.
GPAS makes it possible to rapidly and cost-effectively sequence the genetic code of a pathogen and to compare it to other similar samples globally at scale in near real-time. This supports public health decisions to be made with increased confidence, precision and speed, thereby reducing the health and economic impact of an outbreak.
The benefit of decoding the genomic sequence of pathogens increases as it is conducted in greater spread and scale across the globe, to track the spread and possible mutation of diseases. GPAS delivers immediate global availability, whilst assuring anonymity of samples and ensuring local control of outputs.
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (Covid-19) demonstrated the limitations of global health monitoring systems and highlighted the inequity of sequencing resources across the world.
What has Covid-19 taught us?
By learning from these limitations, the benefits of near to real-time genomic sequencing are now clear, and include:
Vigilance
Whilst vaccines have allowed many people to return to normal life, Covid-19 is here to stay, and continues to change and mutate. Continued monitoring is critical.
Early warning
In the event of future epidemics or pandemics, we now have a rapid, efficient, equitable and global standardised system to identify the spread, mutation and impact of pathogens.
Opportunity
To better understand a plethora of infectious diseases, assisting the development and application of treatments or vaccines.
A positive legacy
Given the likelihood of further Covid-19 variants and the ongoing global burden of other pathogens, such as tuberculosis (TB), foodborne illnesses, and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), it is critical that infrastructure is in place to ensure that pathogen surveillance and analysis is a positive legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Combined with a shared commitment by governments around the world to adopt solutions that monitor and prevent future infectious disease spread, this can help transform the way in which governments make public health decisions, saving lives and reducing economic impact.
Why we exist
We’re here to transform global health by providing equitable access to rapid genomic sequencing analysis and to save lives by helping to better manage the spread and treatment of infectious diseases worldwide.
Our vision for the future
We see a future of rapid genomic sequencing with rich collaboration between labs, scientists, and researchers beyond borders, to swiftly inform global health interventions and policies related to infectious diseases and ultimately, to improve health for us all.
How we get there
We’re creating a global community of users of our bioinformatics platform who are leveraging rapid and effective data sharing, helping to respond to the challenges of endemic and epidemic infectious diseases.
We stand for
- Trust – we nurture confidence in our product and the security of sovereign data
- Transparency – we are open and honest in our communication and conduct
- Teamwork – collaboration is at the heart of success for GPAS
- Transformation – we believe in the transformational nature of our offering, for the greater good