The Chilean COVID-19 Genomics Network Biorepository: A Resource for Multi-Omics Studies of COVID-19 and Long COVID in a Latin American Population
Signore, Iskra A.
Universidad de Chile
Donoso, Gerardo
Univ Chile Clin Hosp HCUCH
Bocchieri, Pamela
Universidad de Chile
Tobar-Calfucoy, Eduardo A.
Universidad de Chile
Yanez, Cristian E.
Universidad de Chile
Carvajal-Silva, Laura
Universidad de Chile
Silva, Andrea X.
Universidad Austral de Chile
Otth, Carola
Universidad Austral de Chile
Cappelli, Claudio
Universidad Austral de Chile
Valenzuela Jorquera, Hector
Universidad Austral de Chile
Fuentes-Guajardo, Macarena
Universidad de Tarapaca
Monardes-Ramirez, Virginia A.
Universidad de Chile
Kochifas Velasquez, Pia
Universidad de Chile
Munoz, Christian A.
Universidad de Antofagasta
Dorador, Cristina
Universidad de Antofagasta
Garcia-Araya, Jonathan
Universidad de Antofagasta
Campillay-Veliz, Claudia P.
Universidad de Antofagasta
Echeverria, Cesar
Universidad de Atacama
Santander, Rodolfo Alejandro
Emergency Publ Assistance Hosp
Cerpa, Leslie C.
Universidad de Chile
Martinez, Matias F.
Universidad de Chile
Quinones, Luis Abel
Universidad de Chile
Lamoza Galleguillos, Eduardo Roberto
Universidad de Chile
Saez Hidalgo, Juan
Universidad de Chile
Nova-Lamperti, Estefania
Universidad de Concepcion
Sanhueza, Sergio
Univ Frontier
Giacaman, Annesi
Universidad Austral de Chile
Acosta-Jamett, Gerardo
Universidad Austral de Chile
Verdugo, Cristobal
Universidad Austral de Chile
Plaza, Anita
Universidad Austral de Chile
Verdugo, Claudio
Universidad Austral de Chile
Selman, Carolina
Arturo Lopez Perez Fdn
Verdugo, Ricardo Alejandro
Universidad de Chile
Colombo, Alicia
Universidad de Chile
Journal
Genes
ISSN
2073-4425
Open Access
gold
Volume
15
Although a lack of diversity in genetic studies is an acknowledged obstacle for personalized medicine and precision public health, Latin American populations remain particularly understudied despite their heterogeneity and mixed ancestry. This gap extends to COVID-19 despite its variability in susceptibility and clinical course, where ethnic background appears to influence disease severity, with non-Europeans facing higher hospitalization rates. In addition, access to high-quality samples and data is a critical issue for personalized and precision medicine, and it has become clear that the solution lies in biobanks. The creation of the Chilean COVID-19 Biorepository reported here addresses these gaps, representing the first nationwide multicentric Chilean initiative. It operates under rigorous biobanking standards and serves as one of South America's largest COVID cohorts. A centralized harmonization strategy was chosen and included unified standard operating procedures, a sampling coding system, and biobanking staff training. Adults with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection provided broad informed consent. Samples were collected to preserve blood, plasma, buffy coat, and DNA. Quality controls included adherence to the standard preanalytical code, incident reporting, and DNA concentration and absorbance ratio 260/280 assessments. Detailed sociodemographic, health, medication, and preexisting condition data were gathered. In five months, 2262 participants were enrolled, pseudonymized, and sorted by disease severity. The average Amerindian ancestry considering all participant was 44.0% [SD 15.5%], and this value increased to 61.2% [SD 19.5%] among those who self-identified as Native South Americans. Notably, 279 participants self-identified with one of 12 ethnic groups. High compliance (>90%) in all assessed quality controls was achieved. Looking ahead, our team founded the COVID-19 Genomics Network (C19-GenoNet) focused on identifying genetic factors influencing SARS-CoV-2 outcomes. In conclusion, this bottom-up collaborative effort aims to promote the integration of Latin American populations into global genetic research and welcomes collaborations supporting this endeavor. Interested parties are invited to explore collaboration opportunities through our catalog, accessible online.
Attribution 4.0 International