Dr Łukasz Rąbalski, assistant professor at the Department of Recombinant Vaccines of the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Gdansk and the Medical University of Gdańsk, as the first Polish scientist, obtained the full genetic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus isolated directly from a Polish patient and published it in the global GISAID database.

Genetic material was isolated in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology Diagnostics in the 7th Navy Hospital in Gdańsk. By using the latest generation of sequencers, it was possible to decode the virus genome without additional procedures that could introduce distortions.

Currently, subsequent sequencing of viruses from Polish patients is underway. The obtained data will allow scientists from all over the world to also take Poland into account in their research related to the global epidemiology of COVID-19 disease and constitute an important contribution to understanding the molecular evolution of the virus.