With the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has proven once again to be an efficient tool for outbreak investigations. The first sequence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was published on January 10, 2020.1 WGS was continuously used to investigate the virus’s genetic variants and their spread, to understand the impacts of mutations, and to monitor emerging lineages.2 The sequenced data and relevant information have been made available on open-source platforms, leading to scientific collaboration and accelerating research on the virus.
A prominent example of such collaboration is the “Nextstrain” project3 with its online platform, which has enabled scientists to upload real-time data and facilitated further scientific analyses. While interpretations of the information on such platforms may have been used for decision making,4 one of the most redeeming values of the open platform is that it connects scientists to the general public, as this is a scientific communication tool with effective visuals.5 This confirms the importance of securing an enabling environment for global WGS data sharing, which was discussed extensively at a meeting convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2016.6 The scope of the meeting was on WGS applications, particularly for food safety management, which deals with various types of pathogenic microbes.