"In our research, we aim to identify whether there are other viruses that have the potential to spread unexpectedly in large numbers, thus posing a risk for the next pandemic," saidd Farah Novita Coutrier, the head of the research center, in a statement released on Friday.
The research includes investigating the transmission of viruses from animals to humans, such as the Zika virus or hantavirus, she explained.
Additionally, the Eijkman Molecular Biology Research Center is conducting research on hereditary diseases, as well as studying molecular structure and evolution.
"For sampling, we are collaborating with regional health offices, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture," Coutrier remarked.
She further explained that the Eijkman Molecular Biology Research Center, in collaboration with the Electronics and Informatics Research Organization of BRIN, has established a Bioinformatics Research Group.
The research group aims to process data from whole genome sequencing to help researchers understand and utilize it for drug or vaccine research as part of pandemic mitigation efforts.
"I want to emphasize that we can utilize this data to predict the possibility of future pandemics. This way, vaccine or drug research can be more targeted and effective, for example, in controlling the spread of viruses," she stated.
Sandi Sufiandi, the Coordinator of the Cryo-Electron Microscopy (Cryo-EM) Function of BRIN, emphasized the importance of using bioinformatics methods to process genome sequence data.
He said that BRIN has up to 96 high-performance computing nodes prepared for data processing.
"In addition to physical data collections, such as virus and microbial samples, we also have a data repository. All research data is stored in one place to form big data," he remarked.
"It is time for research to reach the level of data science, processing big data, to obtain holistic information," he added.
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Translator: Sugiharto Purnama, Raka Adji
Editor: Anton Santoso
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