WOAH twinning project strengthens Lithuanian-German collaboration in pathogen genome sequencing

03/02/2026 - On March 2, 2026, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Twinning Project Lithuania-German will be launched. The aim of the twinning project is to strengthen the sustainable sequencing and bioinformatics capabilities of the National Food and Veterinary Risk Assessment Institute of Lithuania (Nacionaliniame maisto ir veterinarijos rizikos vertinimo institute, NMVRVI) by developing short and effective training courses. The twinning project will help the NMVRVI to meet the standards of the WOAH Terrestrial Guide for High-Throughput Sequencing, Bioinformatics, and Computational Genomics. The twinning project will be supervised by experts from the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, the German Federal Research Institute for Animal Health (FLI), together with candidate institute experts from the Molecular analysis and GMO testing department. The project duration is 3 years. The training will take place at the FLI and is divided in two parts: laboratory practice (sample processing and sequencing) and bioinformatics to ensure consistent quality and validity of the results. Practical training in the laboratory includes the preparation and extraction of high-quality DNA/RNA from biological samples, the application of different sequencing platforms and the subsequent data analyses. German experts will help to implement next-generation sequencing technologies, i.e. whole-genome sequencing at the NMVRVI laboratory. Knowledge transfer will continue during monthly online meetings. Harmonisation and standardisation of methods between the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut and the National Food and Veterinary Risk Assessment Institute will ensure the sustainability of cooperation in the field of whole genome sequencing of pathogens.