The world is fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. Somewhere situations are under control while situations are getting worse in some regions. However, Scientists from Western University in Canada have made a new data discovery tool that easily classifies any virus in just a few minutes, which seems to be a silver lining in this critical phase.
This group of scientists has used Artificial Intelligence (AI) for identifying a genomic signature for around 29 different DNA sequences of the novel coronavirus. During the pandemic, this tool will provide strategic plannings for researchers and drug developers supplying medical needs wherever needed. The group of scientists includes Gurjit Randhawa of Indian origin.
The process also supports the assumption, published in the PLOS ONE journal — the virus that caused this disease has originated from Sarbecovirus found in bats.
This tool is ultra-fast, scalable, and highly accurate as it uses specialized software, a decision-tree approach, and a machine-learning method. It discovers the most relevant relationships among more than 5,000 viral genomes within minutes.
“All we needed was the COVID-19 DNA sequence to discover its own intrinsic sequence pattern. We used that signature pattern and a logical approach to match that pattern as close as possible to other viruses and achieved a fine level of classification in minutes; not days, not hours but minutes,”
said Kathleen Hill, a professor at University of Western Ontario in Canada.
