Noguchi receives genome sequencing equipment from Africa CDC

The Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has today handed over two genome sequencing equipment to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR).

The ceremony which took place at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research was attended by stakeholders and representatives from the Africa CDC as well as the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM).

In her remarks at the handing over ceremony, Director of the institute, Professor Dorothy Yeboah Manu said the equipment would enhance the mandate of the institution.

She noted that the institute was the research hub in the sub-region and was in charge of five countries such as Ghana, Togo, Benin, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

She indicated that the equipment would allow the institute to research more into variants not only COVID-19, but diseases like Tuberculosis and future pandemic that may hit the world.

Professor Dorothy Yeboah Manu stated, “this is the equipment we are going to be using for all our TB isolates and currently we are working on the ones that are resistant. What are the genomic mutations leading to drug resistance? When we understand such information what is allows us to do is to contribute to the development of rapid diagnostics that are DNA based that could quickly determine the mutations that lead to drug resistance.”

Speaking to the programme lead for pathogen genomics at the Africa CDC, Dr. Sofonias Tessema, he indicated that, Noguchi was the response center to COVID-19 in the sub-region hence was necessary to build its capacity. He added that the addition of this new equipment was not solely for Noguchi, but would serve the sub-region and Africa as a whole.

He told ModernGhana News that, “the Africa CDC established a continental programme to strengthen laboratories and to support sequencing. This support to Noguchi is part of a bigger plan we have, what we call The African Pathogen Genomics Initiative.”

He continued, “the vision is to strengthen laboratories to do sequencing locally and with that approach, the for Noguchi is not only strengthening the capacity in Ghana it enabled the Ghana Health Service to be able to identify variants and monitor the circulation of variants and understand how the viruses evolve in Ghana.

“Noguchi has been the center for response for countries in the region including Togo, Liberia, Benin and Sierra Leonne and so this support is not only for Ghana it’s for the region and in the bigger picture for the continent.”

The new equipment comes some six years according to Prof. Yeboah Manu, after the University of Ghana donated some MiSeq equipment to the institute to support its mandate.

Noguchi with its previous equipment solely sequenced some 4,000 genomes from all five countries it covers and with the new equipment; more sequencing not only on COVID-19 variants but other diseases.