DAVAO CITY, June 22 (PIA) – The Philippine Genome Center (PGC) – Mindanao along with six other partner sites in Mindanao are set to start the SARS-CoV-2 sequencing project this week in collaboration with the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and the University of Glasgow. PGC-Mindanao center director Dr. Lyre Anni Murao, guesting in One Davao Virtual Presser, announced that the first batch of sequencing will run for about a week after getting needed samples from the different regions in Mindanao. “So far, three laboratories have already submitted samples and we are looking forward to receive other samples from other laboratories,” Dr. Murao said. The PGC Mindanao is one of the seven sites tapped to participate in the genome sequencing. “The importance on having this sequencing is for us here in Mindanao to identify the different variants that will give us an idea on what kind of virus do we have right now.” When asked if the possible presence of new variants is the cause