What can we learn from millions of viral genome sequences?

What can we learn from millions of viral genome sequences? David Ussery and Pratul Agarwal, Professors in the Department of Physiological Sciences at Oklahoma State University, discuss their work using high-performance computing for the analysis of millions of viral genome sequences. Advances in nanotechnology and machine learning methods have made possible disruptive changes in genome sequencing; it is now possible to sequence hundreds of viral genomes in parallel, within a few hours1, allowing for the routine monitoring of viruses in water2, and other environments3. The dramatic improvements in ease and cost of sequencing have resulted in millions of genome sequences being deposited in public databases4. Currently, there are several viral species with more than a million genomes: >9 million SARS-CoV-2 viral genomes available at NCBI5; >1.5 million Influenza viral genomes6;and > 1.1 million human immunodeficiency (AIDS) viral genomes7.