Ginkgo Bioworks, Xwell expand support for CDC’s Genomic Surveillance program

Ginkgo Bioworks (DNA) and XWELL (XWEL) announced that they have expanded their support for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance program to include a pilot study monitoring influenza viruses in addition to SARS-CoV-2. The partners continue to grow the program’s capabilities to provide an additional source of viral surveillance to inform the selection of influenza vaccine viruses for the forthcoming 2023-2024 flu season.Since August 2021, the program, which is also being used to conduct surveillance for SARS-CoV-2, has delivered timely public health insights into rare and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and sublineages and informed responses to outbreaks and surges through an innovative public-private partnership between CDC, Concentric by Ginkgo, the biosecurity and public health unit of Ginkgo Bioworks, and XpresCheck by XWELL, Inc., a leading provider of SARS-CoV-2 testing in U.S. airports. Recognizing the high level of seasonal influenza activity this fall and winter, the program is leveraging its large-scale travel biosecurity platform to monitor influenza A and B viruses among arriving international travelers at selected U.S. airports.