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AltaiR is a newly developed C-based toolkit that revolutionizes large-scale genomic and proteomic data analysis. By using alignment-free methodologies, AltaiR can efficiently handle millions of sequences, making it especially valuable for studying viruses like SARS-CoV-2.

With AltaiR, researchers can quickly filter out low-quality data, track how genomes evolve over time, and detect unique segments of the pathogen genome that do not appear in the host. This approach helps scientists understand the genetic shifts that drive outbreaks and may support the rapid development of targeted diagnostics and therapies.

This toolkit was designed with scalability, speed, and ease of use in mind, and it runs on standard computing environments without any special requirements. Its ability to visualize changes in sequence complexity, similarity, and composition empowers researchers and public health officials to better monitor ongoing pandemics or emerging infectious diseases. With AltaiR, genomic insights are now more accessible, fostering timely responses and improved understanding of our rapidly changing biological world.

Authored by: Jorge Miguel Silva
In collaboration with: Diogo Pratas, Armando J. Pinho

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Supported by:
This work was partially funded by national funds through the FCT–Foundation for Science and Technology, in the context of the project UIDB/00127/2020, and the European Comission under grant agreement 101081813, Genomic Data Infrastructure.