Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41526978›Full record

ReviewGenome biology2026

SARS-CoV-2 wastewater genomic surveillance: approaches, challenges, and opportunities.

Viorel Munteanu, Michael A Saldana, David Dreifuss, Wenhao O Ouyang, Jannatul Ferdous, Fatemeh Mohebbi, Jessica Schlueter Roseberry, Dumitru Ciorba, Viorel Bostan, Victor Gordeev and 23 more

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Genome biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

33 authors.

Viorel Munteanu *Department of Computers, Informatics and Microelectronics, Technical University of Moldova, Chisinau, 2045, Moldova. viorel.munteanu@lt.utm.md.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4133-5945
Michael A Saldana *Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southern California, 3620 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0007-7253-9434
David DreifussDepartment of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Basel, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5827-5387
Wenhao O OuyangDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3618-9808
Jannatul FerdousDepartment of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Charlotte, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3053-9616
Fatemeh MohebbiDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, 1540 Alcazar Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1395-1051
Jessica Schlueter RoseberryDepartment of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6490-0580
Dumitru CiorbaDepartment of Computers, Informatics and Microelectronics, Technical University of Moldova, Chisinau, 2045, Moldova.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3157-5072
Viorel BostanDepartment of Computers, Informatics and Microelectronics, Technical University of Moldova, Chisinau, 2045, Moldova.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2422-3538
Victor GordeevDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, "Ştefan Cel Mare" University of Suceava, Suceava, 720229, Romania.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0005-1052-2552
Nicolae DrabcinskiDepartment of Computers, Informatics and Microelectronics, Technical University of Moldova, Chisinau, 2045, Moldova.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-4381-836X
Justin Maine SuDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy, USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0912-4785
Nadiia KasianchukDepartment of Computer Science, Kyiv School of Economics, Kiev, 03113, Ukraine.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9732-329X
Nitesh Kumar SharmaTitus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy, USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Southern California, 1540 Alcazar Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6379-1426
Sergey KnyazevTitus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy, USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Southern California, 1540 Alcazar Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0385-1831
Eva AßmannGenome Competence Center (MF 1), Method Development and Research Infrastructure, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, 13353, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7249-069X
Andrei LobiucCollege of Medicine and Biological Sciences, "Ştefan Cel Mare" University of Suceava, Suceava, 720229, Romania.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5854-8261
Mihai CovasaCollege of Medicine and Biological Sciences, "Ştefan Cel Mare" University of Suceava, Suceava, 720229, Romania.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6266-4457
Keith A CrandallComputational Biology Institute, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC, 20052, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0836-3389
Nicholas C WuDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9078-6697
Christopher E MasonDepartment of Systems and Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10065, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1850-1642
Braden T TierneyDepartment of Systems and Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10065, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7533-8802
Alexander G LucaciDepartment of Systems and Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10065, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4896-6088
Roel A OphoffCenter for Neurobehavioral Genetics, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8287-6457
Cynthia GibasDepartment of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Charlotte, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1288-9543
Piotr RzymskiDepartment of Environmental Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4713-0801
Pavel SkumsSchool of Computing, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4007-5624
Helena Solo-GabrieleDepartment of Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3390-3823
Beerenwinkel NikoDepartment of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Basel, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0573-6119
Alex ZelikovskyCollege of Medicine and Biological Sciences, "Ştefan Cel Mare" University of Suceava, Suceava, 720229, Romania.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4424-4691
Martin Hölzer *Genome Competence Center (MF 1), Method Development and Research Infrastructure, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, 13353, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7090-8717
Adam Smith *Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southern California, 3620 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3964-7544
Serghei Mangul *Department of Computers, Informatics and Microelectronics, Technical University of Moldova, Chisinau, 2045, Moldova. serghei.mangul@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4770-3443

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Wastewater-based genomic surveillance (WWGS) has proven effective for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses within communities. It enables rapid detection of known and emerging mutations and provides insights into circulating lineages. Despite its advantages, WWGS faces challenges in sample processing and computational analysis, particularly in distinguishing similar lineages and identifying novel ones. Recent methods for wastewater sequencing (WWS) analysis remain largely untested amid declining clinical surveillance and ongoing viral evolution. This review examines opportunities and limitations of WWGS, focusing on sample preparation, sequencing technologies, and bioinformatics approaches, and highlights its potential to strengthen public health monitoring systems.

Indexed as

COVID-19Genome, ViralGenomicsSARS-CoV-2WastewaterComputational BiologyHumansWastewater

Identifiers

PMID41526978
PMCPMC12794521

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.