At CHRF, one machine holds a special place in our history: the iSeq 100. This exact sequencer that you see in the picture, sequenced the SARS-CoV-2 genome for the first time in Bangladesh.

At the height of the pandemic, this sequencer generated the data that helped us understand the virus and informed public health decisions when timely evidence mattered the most.

The iSeq 100 is small enough to sit on a lab bench, but its impact reached far beyond our laboratory. It meant Bangladesh no longer had to rely on sending samples abroad to understand the pathogens spreading within its own borders.