Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC) in Gandhinagar has succeeded in decoding whole genome sequence of the coronavirus.
State's principal secretary health and family welfare Jayanti Ravi said in Gandhinagar on Thursday that the whole genome sequencing of the deadly virus will help in studying the possibilities of a vaccine, treatment and virulence of the virus.
She said that GBRC is the first centre in the country to have done the whole genome sequencing of coronavirus. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's office also took to Twitter to announce the same.
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The announcement comes at a time when the death toll in Gujarat has risen to 36 and number of positive cases stands at 871.
Chaitanya Joshi, director of GBRC, said that they have found three new mutations in the virus apart from the six mutations that have been there in the virus in China and other countries.
Replying to a question, he said that the virus could mutate for manifold reasons. The effect of the mutations is a matter of study and we are in a primary stage, he explained. He said that viruses in about 100 patients will be studied.
According to Joshi, a virus can mutate two times in a month's time.
