Spain’s efforts to combat pandemics like COVID-19 have received a boost thanks to EU-funding to upgrade infrastructure and purchase new equipment for the Valencian Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research (FISABIO). The project puts FISABIO in a better position to face new challenges in microbiology and infectious diseases. The centre’s bioinformatics department is now the only one in Spain capable of processing sequences at high speeds and in large quantities, and the only one in Valencia with a biological level three security room.
- 19 September 2020
Thanks to the funds received by the European Regional Development Fund, the upgraded infrastructure has already shown its potential for the genomic surveillance of pathogens and has been crucial for the molecular epidemiology analysis of COVID-19 in Spain. This will also be applied to the surveillance of other outbreaks in the community of Valencia.
FISABIO’s sequencing and bioinformatics department focuses on microbial whole-genome sequencing, a process that determines an organism’s entire DNA sequence. This kind of research is crucial in the field of genomics, infectious and rare diseases, and for the creation of vaccines. Whole-genome sequencing allows for quick and accurate identification of the virulence factors of pathogens, causes of transmission and probable sources.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the upgraded infrastructure has already proved its worth, sequencing over 1 500 positive SARS-CoV-2 sequences from all over Spain.
Advanced sequencing equipment
To enable its bioinformatics department to analyse more DNA samples, the centre acquired a NextSeq 500 machine, which is capable of sequencing 400 bacterial genomes simultaneously.
The centre also purchased a new computer server, a real-time polymerase chain reaction kit with a 96-well block, three vertical, high-capacity, low-temperature freezers to store samples and an ultrasonic nucleic acid fragmenting tool, all for its genomics and health research area.
In addition, the funding was used to reinforce the bioinformatics laboratory’s infrastructure and further safeguard its management of pathogenic microorganisms. This included the installation of a security room with biological safety level three – the highest being level four – for working with deadly infectious agents. The room has four biosafety cabins, a cell culture stove and other conservation equipment.
Full operationality at the outbreak of COVID-19
Thanks to the investment, the centre’s surveillance laboratory could focus its efforts on sequencing and analysing positive SARS-CoV-2 sequences, from all over the country, at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.
The centre demonstrated its surveillance and sequencing capacity by uploading a substantial amount of data onto GISAID, a global science initiative that promotes the rapid exchange of outbreak data of influenza viruses. Spain is the third-largest contributor of outbreak data on GISAID in the world. Of all the country’s sequences, 64 % comes from FISABIO.
Moreover, thanks to the participation of more than 30 clinical microbiology laboratories across the country, FISABIO contributed to a nationwide effort, under the SeqCOVID-Spain consortium, to better understand the dynamics of COVID-19 and its epidemiological and clinical features by sequencing and analysing the genomic epidemiology of the virus.
The centre has already contributed significantly to protecting the health of Valencia’s citizens and will likely prove useful in future influenza outbreaks.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Updating of infrastructures for research in infectious diseases and emerging epidemics, focusing especially on their application in public health during the period 2014-2020” is EUR 1 413 619, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 706 809 through the “Comunidad Valenciana” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. This project falls under the priority “Jobs, Growth and Investment”.