UK wants to oversee the genome to prevent future pandemics

The COVID-19 pandemic took the world by surprise. So that something similar does not happen again, in order to prevent future pandemics, the United Kingdom wants to supervise the genome.

Taking into account the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the world, the United Kingdom is preparing: the Government announced a new collaboration public-private, with the aim of developing the first early warning system for pandemic diseases.
The National Health Service (NHS) will establish a partnership with Oxford Nanopore, a UK-based company that has developed an innovative solution for DNA sequencing. The objective will be to detect dangerous infections within hours of an outbreak.
This DNA sequencing system created by Oxford Nanopore is the central element of the entire initiative, as it allows researchers and doctors to analyze genes and pathogens very quickly.
The new partnership also involves Genomics England and the UK Biobank. Oxford Nanopore will work with disease data provided by Genomics England, and the UK Biobank will continue to share its data with Oxford Nanopore and the UK Government.

We cannot let history repeat itself. That's why this historic partnership with Oxford Nanopore will ensure our scientists have the latest information on emerging threats at their fingertips.

Wes Streeting, UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, shared, noting that since the NHS was already on its knees during the COVID-19 pandemic, it suffered more than other comparable healthcare systems.

UK wants to prevent rather than cure
The UK NHS wants to use Oxford Nanopore's technology to reliably diagnose patients with symptoms of acute respiratory infections within six hours.
The idea is that the diagnostic system will allow British authorities to monitor viral diseases and antimicrobial resistance, and for the NHS to complete its ongoing digitalization process.
Oxford Nanopore technology uses nanoscopic pores in thin protein membranes, allowing a single strand of DNA to pass through for analysis without breaking it into smaller fragments.
Thus, the system can identify individual nucleotides in real time, with 99% accuracy under "ideal" conditions. The Oxford Nanopore approach can diagnose quickly detect various types of cancer and rare and infectious diseases.
This new real-time sequencing technology has already been successful in tests conducted at St. Thomas. It will now be expanded to another 10 to 30 NHS sites across the UK.