Nextstrain
Nextstrain is a collaboration between researchers in Seattle, United States and Basel, Switzerland which provides a collection of open-source tools for visualising the genetics behind the spread of viral outbreaks.
Its aim is to support public health measures and surveillance by facilitating understanding of the spread and evolution of pathogens. The Nextstrain platform was begun in 2015. Code developed by Nextstrain is made publicly available, via, for example github.com and its data is available and viewable in accessible form via the pages at the website.
Applications
According to their website, the Nextstrain team maintains an up-to-date genomic analysis of each of the following pathogens:- Avian influenza
- Dengue
- Enterovirus D68
- Measles
- Monkeypox virus
- Mumps
- SARS-CoV-2
- Seasonal influenza
- Tuberculosis
- West Nile virus
- West African Ebola 2013-16
- Zika
Covid-19 pandemic
Awards
In March 2017, Nextstrain won the inaugural Open Science Prize, an initiative of the National Institutes of Health, in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.In May 2020, Nextstrain and Trevor Bedford received a Webby Special Achievement Award for the web tool.