Guilford Scientist Role In Coronavirus Variant Omicron Discovery

GUILFORD, CT — The technology created by Guilford scientist Jonathan Rothberg and his team was used by South African scientists to “discover and decode” the latest SARS coronavirus variant, Omicron.

He took to social media to share that learning the technology he invented, "made my day."

Rothberg tweeted that the “next-generation sequencing” or NGS Ion Torrent technology he and his team developed was employed by Prof. Tulio de Oliveira and researchers at the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

“SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance with NGS will become an increasing priority as the virus continues to mutate and evolve,” according to Ion Torrent.

Rothberg is the founder of a number of biotech and medical device Guilford-based companies including Hyperfine, Butterfly Network, and Homodeus.

As reported by Patch in March 2020 just as lockdowns began in response to the coronavirus, his Guilford biotech company Homodeus had already begun working on, with the Yale School of Medicine and Penn State, a home-testing coronavirus kit.

And in June 2021, a Space X and NASA rocket headed to the International Space Station had aboard it a hand-held ultrasound device created by Rothberg and his digital health tech company Butterfly Network.

The device would be studied to see if it can help monitor astronaut health while in space.

In September, astronauts shared what they discovered using Rothberg's device.