Inside a Sequencing Lab on the Front Lines of America’s Search for Omicron
The New York Times
More states are finding cases of the new variant. Tracking its spread, experts say, is key to understanding what threat it poses.
OMAHA — Researchers in Nebraska had just finished sequencing six samples of the Omicron variant, the most discovered anywhere in the United States. They just didn’t know it yet.
In a closet-size room with two chairs and no windows, the scientists had extracted the genetic information from 64 new coronavirus samples, as they do every day, to determine whether any of those patients might have the worrisome new variant. Hours later, Dr. Baha Abdalhamid opened an email and saw the results.
“This batch, I was waiting for it,” said Dr. Abdalhamid, the assistant director of the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory. “Once I downloaded the results as an Excel sheet, I screened the 64 samples right away, and sure enough, six of them were Omicron.” Nebraska officials announced the six cases, the state’s first, on Friday.
