With the recent confirmation of a new outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the possibility that this disease will become a major killer is a real concern. Modern diagnostic tests, antiviral agents and vaccines are all needed to combat the disease, and these require sequence data and the functional dissection of the genome of the SARS coronavirus.
To this aim, in May 2003, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) set up the SARS coronavirus resource to provide “...the most recent sequences, annotations, and analysis...”. And with the most recent update in February 2004, to include data from the Chinese SARS Molecular Epidemiology Consortium, this really does seem to be the case.
On the web site, there is the option to view pre-computed global alignments of the genomes of various isolates. The complete sequence data of both genes and proteins are also available, along with their pre-computed analysis. Of course, with the availability of the BLAST alignment tool, there is also the option to carry out your own analysis.
Combine all of this with links to the most recent SARS publications and other useful SARS-related information — from organizations such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Medline Plus — and this really is a web site that is worth bookmarking by those who want to keep up to date with the field.
FURTHER READING
The Chinese SARS Molecular Epidemiology Consortium. Molecular evolution of the SARS coronavirus during the course of the SARS epidemic in China. Science 29 Jan 2004 (doi:10.1126/science.1092002)
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Wilson, N. SARS resource. Nat Rev Genet 5, 166 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1311
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1311
