Case Study: Vector Institute tracks COVID-19 genomic data with Google Cloud

Toronto researchers build machine learning tool with Google Cloud to track COVID-19 genomic data

Vector Institute in Toronto needed a fast way to support urgent COVID-19 research when the pandemic forced its labs to close and its researchers to work remotely. Using Google for Education’s Google Cloud, the team set out to build a web-based machine learning and visualization tool to process and analyze public SARS-CoV-2 genome data at scale.

Google for Education helped Vector Institute deploy the COVID-19 Genotyping Tool on Compute Engine in about a week, enabling real-time analysis of viral genomes and tracking of mutations and transmission pathways. The publicly available tool has averaged about 10,000 new genome uploads per week, giving researchers and public health teams a valuable resource for monitoring outbreaks and informing policy decisions.

Vector Institute

Bo Wang

Lead Artificial Intelligence Scientist at the University Health Network and Faculty Member