Illumina SARS-CoV-2 Data Toolkit

The Illumina SARS-CoV-2 Data Toolkit is a suite of data analysis tools and workflow functionality for researchers working with the virus using next-generation sequencing (NGS). The toolkit should make it easier for researchers to detect and identify the SARS-CoV-2 viral sequence in their samples and contribute their findings to critical public databases. Illumina is making the toolkit available at no cost to the global research community in support of efforts to combat the pandemic.

The toolkit integrates with Illumina’s worldwide installed base of 15,000 sequencing systems and is designed to help the global research community and public health officials track the path of the epidemic, understand transmission routes, determine the rate of viral evolution and understand if the virus is changing in ways that impact therapeutic effectiveness. This connectivity across Illumina’s global technology platform allows researchers and public health officials to easily share information.

The toolkit is releasing new and updated DRAGEN functionality, leveraging the speed of DRAGEN to accelerate infectious disease surveillance and outbreak response. It includes a DRAGEN RNA Pathogen Detection Pipeline to enable detection of infectious diseases, as well as a DRAGEN Metagenomics Pipeline for outbreak surveillance, an SRA Import App and a GISAID Sharing App.

Compatible with many Illumina workflows, including the respiratory virus target enrichment workflow, the toolkit empowers researchers to securely stream data directly from Illumina’s full portfolio of sequencers into BaseSpace Sequence Hub for rapid, comprehensive analysis using the DRAGEN RNA Pathogen Detection App. Once analysis is complete, researchers can submit their data to public databases directly from BaseSpace Sequence Hub.