genome sequencing
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As New Zealand’s Omicron Infections Rise Rapidly, Genome Surveillance Is Shifting Gears
Genomic sequencing has been a key tool throughout Aotearoa’s COVID-19 pandemic, with data generated here now part of the 8.5 million genomes shared globally. It has helped us understand how cases arrived here and the extent of community outbreaks. It has also given us detailed insight into how the virus is transmitted from person to…
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How Scientists Could Use DNA Sequencing To Identify Alien Life
Here’s a riddle: If an alien life form is, well, alien, how will we know what it is? DNA and RNA are the building blocks of life on Earth, but the molecules of life might differ substantially on another planet. So if scientists combing, say, the potentially habitable waters of Jupiter’s moon Europa were to…