Evidence of “double mutant” substitutions E484Q and L452R in the B.1.429 lineage suggest convergent evolution of immune escape mutations

Two variants have been shown to help the SARS-CoV-2 virus avoid the immune system’s antibody response; their emergence in separate viral lineages suggests convergent evolution in response to selective pressure.

Update on the Helix, Illumina surveillance program: B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2, first identified in the UK, spreads further into the US

Most recent update: January 11th, 2021 What’s new? Helix has identified 74 cases of B.1.1.7 (up from the 51 reported in our January 6 update). B.1.1.7 appears to currently represent 0.27% of all positive tests...

SARS-CoV-2 UK variant (B.1.1.7) in the US: Four cases identified in Florida and California

The SARS-CoV-2 UK variant (B.1.1.7) strain has recently emerged as the dominant strain in the UK and has been found to be more infectious. Studies from France and the UK have shown that S gene...

Is the new SARS-CoV-2 UK variant (B.1.1.7) already in the US? Maybe.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been concern about novel SARS-CoV-2 mutations emerging that are more transmissible. Recently, multiple novel strains of SARS-CoV-2 have been found to share the same deletion of...

5 ways Helix’s research community has advanced science in 2020

As we wrap up 2020 and look back at the year we’ve all endured, it’s important to highlight the places where humanity shone through the darkness. One such place is in our research community.  While...

Helix Delivers One Millionth COVID-19 Test

Today, we’re excited to announce a major milestone – we’ve delivered 1,000,000 COVID-19 tests since we first launched our testing in late June. While we’ve been scaling rapidly since then, we’ve recently accelerated tremendously, with...

COVID-19 severity and the Neanderthal heirloom

Neanderthal DNA may influence how severe a person's symptoms to COVID-19 are.