Gaining New Insights into Pathogen Genomic Technologies and Applications in China

Between 17^th – 19^th July 2023, the Asia PGI team was invited to China to learn about the application and potential of next-generation sequencing technologies (NGS) in the country. They were hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (China Office), the Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention (SZCDC), Guandong CDC China, the First-Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, BGI Genomics Ptd Ltd, Guandong, King Med Ptd Ltd, Guangzhou, Hugo Bio Ptd Ltd, Guangzhou, and Vision Med Ptd Ltd, Guangzhou.


Between visits to the SZCDC and the First-Affiliated Hospital in Sun Yat-Sen University, they gained first-hand insight into China’s clinical and public health needs, learning about the importance of integrating NGS into clinical and surveillance systems to enhance clinical management in local tertiary healthcare systems. Colleagues from the SZCDC also shared their experiences with integrating MGI NGS technologies into their work during their fight against SARS-CoV-2.

The Asia PGI team at Shenzhen CDC, together with partner representatives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and MGI.

While visiting NGS application and service providers, the team learnt about how companies are leveraging the latest high throughput and low-cost technological tools to support research, medical care and clinical services throughout China. The team was introduced to Mindray’s latest advances in medical, surgical and diagnostic laboratory equipment while on a site visit together with partner representatives. They were also introduced to MGI and BGI Group’s current and future NGS facilities and technologies, and embarked on a tour of the China National GeneBank facility, together with partner representatives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Many themes related to the application of NGS in healthcare were discussed, including costing per sample, use cases in clinical and public health settings, sampling strategies, supply chains, testing limits and data sharing for public health and clinical decisions. The team brings back to Singapore knowledge and perspective that will better inform their work in the region, and are looking forward to many potential collaborations in areas such as knowledge exchange and validation of sampling and testing strategies.