WAS SAID DURING A MEETING BETWEEN PARENTS AND STUDENTS AND ONLY A MATTER OF MINUTES. IS
THERE A NEW COVID VARIANTS
SPREADING IN MICHIGAN, WAITING
TO UNDO ALL THE PROGRESS THAT
WE’VE MADE SO FAR? IF SO,
THEY’LL SPOT IT HERE FIRST.
ALPHA DELTA. OH, MACRON, ALL
COVID VARIANTS WE’VE SEEN IN
MICHIGAN AND AROUND THE WORLD
LOOKING FOR THEM, AND ANY NEW
VARIANTS HAS BECOME A CRUCIAL
TOOL TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC. BUT
MOST PEOPLE REALLY DON’T REALIZE
THE TECHNOLOGY TO IDENTIFY THOSE
VARIANTS HAS ONLY BECOME
AVAILABLE IN RECENT YEARS. DR
FRANK MCGEORGE GOT EXCLUSIVE
ACCESS TO THE STATE LAB IN
LANSING TO SHOW US HOW THEY
SEARCH FOR THIS VIRAL NEEDLE IN
THE HAYSTACK, DOC. YES ANDREW
AND JASON. SO THE LAB THAT DOES
GENETIC SEQUENCING FOR SARS COV
TWO SAMPLES FROM AROUND THE
STATE. THEY’VE BEEN DOING THIS
REMARKABLY HIGH TECH WORK SINCE
THE START OF THE PANDEMIC, AND
HONESTLY, IT IS SO HIGH TECH
THAT EVEN I FELT LIKE SOME OF
THE PROCESSES BEING EXPLAINED,
FELT ALMOST LIKE SORCERY BECAUSE
IT ALL HAPPENS ON A
BIOCHEMICALLY MICROSCOPIC LEVEL
THAT IS REALLY DIFFICULT TO
GRASP. DELUSIONS AND PREPARATION
FOR LOADING ONTO THE SEQUENCE
THERE. THE SCIENTIFIC DETECTIVES
WORKING TO UNRAVEL THE GENETIC
MYSTERIES OF COVID 19 DASH UNIT
, WHICH IS OUR DATA AND SPECIMEN
HANDLING UNIT. THEY WILL RECEIVE
ALL THE SAMPLES THAT COME INTO
THE STATE LABORATORY. THAT’S DR
HEATHER BLANKENSHIP, THE
DIRECTOR OF GENOMIC SEQUENCING
AT THE DHHS BUREAU OF
LABORATORIES. THEY THEN GET SENT
OUT TO VARIOUS POINTS IN THE
LABORATORY. IT STARTS WITH THOSE
NASAL SWABS. WE’VE ALL BECOME SO
FAMILIAR WITH AFTER A SAMPLE IS
RECEIVED LESS THAN EVEN A DROP
OF LIQUID. IT REQUIRES SEVERAL
PROCESSING STEPS. ONE CRUCIAL
STEP CUTS THE LONG STRANDS OF
GENETIC MATERIAL INTO READABLE
CHUNKS. SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
WELL, HERE’S HOW DOCTOR
BLANKENSHIP EXPLAINS IT. I LIKE
TO THINK ABOUT IT. LIKE HARRY
POTTER BOX SET, SO WE’RE TAKING
100 BOOKS OF HARRY POTTER. AND
OUR SEQUENCES CAN ONLY LOOK AT
250 CHARACTERS. SO WE’RE GONNA
GO ON THE HARRY POTTER BOX IT
AND EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU HIT
2050 CHARACTERS. YOU’RE GONNA
MAKE A CUT EXACTLY WHAT WE’RE
DOING WITH OUR VIRUS GENOMES.
ONCE THE GENETIC MATERIAL IS CUT
INTO TINY MICROSCOPIC FRAGMENTS
. IT’S COMBINED WITH THE SAMPLES
FROM 95 OTHER PATIENTS AGAIN.
THIS IS ALL ON A MICROSCOPIC
LEVEL. SINGLE FLOW CELL LIKE
THIS IS FOR ALL OF OUR
SEQUENCING IS GOING TO OCCUR. ON
THE SAMPLES ARE GOING TO GET
LOADED ON HERE, PUT ON THE
INSTRUMENT AND SEQUENCING. WHERE
DOES THE SAMPLE GO? LIKE? HOW
DOES THAT ACTUALLY SAMPLE IS
ACTUALLY GOING TO GO IN THOSE
LITTLE TINY HOLES THAT YOU SEE
THERE? THERE’S TWO SMALL HOLES.
WE’RE GONNA LOAD OUR SAMPLES ON
THERE. SO 96 COVID SAMPLES WILL
GET PUT INTO THIS ONTO THIS
SINGLE CHIP THAT LITTLE
CARTRIDGE WITH 96 PATIENT
SAMPLES IS LOADED INTO ONE OF
SIX MACHINES LIKE THIS, AND
THAT’S WHERE THE SUPER HIGH TECH
MAGIC HAPPENS. THE INSTRUMENT
ITSELF. WE’LL DO ALL THE
SEQUENCING IT WILL GO THROUGH
AND IDENTIFY AT POLICE. ONE.
WHAT SINGLE CHARACTER GOES THERE
AT PLACE TO WHAT CHARACTER GOES
THERE AT THE END OF SEQUENCING,
WHICH IS GONNA TAKE ROUGHLY A
DAY AND A HALF TO TWO DAYS TO
GET LARGE TEXT FILE. IT’S GOING
TO HAVE ALL OF THE CHARACTERS OF
THE SEQUENCE ARE IDENTIFIED. AND
NOW IT’S UP TO DATA ANALYSIS TO
GO THROUGH AND FIGURE OUT. HOW
DO ALL THOSE TEXT FILES FIT
TOGETHER? AFTER A DAY AND A HALF
TO TWO DAYS, THE DATA ANALYSIS
BEGINS. SO HOW DIFFICULT IS THAT
? WELL, THIS IS THE COMPRESSED
DATA THE SEQUENCE OR SPITS OUT
JUST THE COVID GENOME. THAT’S
NOT GONNA HAVE ANYTHING ELSE
UNREADABLE DATA FROM THE MATRIX.
BUT JUST LIKE THE SEASONS
SPECIALISTS IN THE MATRIX, THESE
PROGRAMMERS ARE ABLE TO
MANIPULATE THE INFORMATION INTO
FAMILIAR GENETIC CODE
REPRESENTED BY COMBINATIONS OF
THE LETTERS A. T C AND G 29,257.
IT IS AN A FOR THIS SPECIFIC
GENOME, AND THAT’S GOING TO TELL
YOU HOW MANY TIMES IT WAS CALLED
IN A ENTIRE SEQUENCES
CONSTRUCTED, THE DATA IS
COMPARED TO KNOWN VARIANTS TO
IDENTIFY WHAT IT IS. IT’S ALSO
UPLOADED INTO INTERNATIONAL
REPOSITORIES TO TRACK KNOWN
VARIANTS OR IDENTIFY NEW ONES.
AND FORTUNATELY, THE STATE
LABORATORY. WE HAVE NOT
IDENTIFIED ANY VERY ENOUGH
CONCERN THAT WASN’T PREVIOUSLY
IDENTIFIED AS. ONE AND AT THIS
POINT HOW MANY TESTS ARE THEY
LOOKING AT ACROSS THE STATE?
WELL, YOU KNOW, SANDERS SINCE
THE START OF THE PANDEMIC
THEY’VE DONE OVER 26,000
SEQUENCES. BUT IN FACT THAT’S
REALLY A VERY SMALL FRACTION OF
THE TOTAL. COVID PCR TEST DONE
IN MICHIGAN. IN FACT, MANY
VIEWERS HAVE ASKED WHY ALL
POSITIVE SAMPLES AREN’T
SEQUENCED AND FIRST OFF FROM A
LAB STANDPOINT, IT WOULD JUST BE
IMPOSSIBLE. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY
, FROM THE TIME OF SAMPLE ENTERS
THE LAB. IT’S PROCESSED AND THEN
SEQUENCED. THAT’S ABOUT FIVE
DAYS. SO AT THAT POINT, IT’S
JUST TOO LATE TO REALLY HAVE A
MEANINGFUL IMPACT ON PATIENT
CARE. BUT IT DOES ALLOW US TO
SEE WHICH VARIANTS ARE PRESENT
IN THE STATE AND HOPEFULLY GET
AN EARLY WARNING OF A NEW ONE