Essential interpretations of bioinformatics in COVID-19 pandemic

Ray, Manisha; Sable, Mukund Namdev; Sarkar, Saurav; Hallur, Vinay Kumar

The currently emerging pathogen SARS-CoV-2 has produced the global pandemic crisis by causing COVID-19. The unique and novel genetic makeup of SARS-CoV-2 has been created puzzle in biological research, due to which the potential drug/vaccine candidates have not yet been discovered by the scientific community. Meanwhile, the advantages of bioinformatics in viral research had created a milestone since last few decades. The exploitation of bioinformatics tools and techniques has successfully interpreted this viral genomics architecture. Some major in silico studies involving next-generation sequencing, genome-wide association studies, computer-aided drug design etc. have been effectively applied in COVID-19 research methodologies and discovered novel information on SARS-CoV-2 in several ways. Nowadays the implementation of in silico studies in COVID-19 research has not only sequenced the SARS-CoV-2 genome but also properly analyzed the sequencing errors, evolutionary relationship, genetic variations, putative drug candidates against SARS-CoV-2 viral genes etc. within a very short time period. These would be very needful towards further research on COVID-19 pandemic and essential for vaccine development against SARS-CoV-2 which will save public health.