Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Houston Methodist's Diagnostic Microbiology Lab, headed by Dr. Wesley Long, medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist, primarily focused on large-scale genomics of disease-causing organisms — typically bacteria.

As COVID-19 began spreading in China in January, Dr. Long's lab began tracking and preparing for this new virus. His team needed to be able to rapidly test for COVID-19, as well as support the potential need for large amounts of testing.

In the video above, go behind the scenes with Dr. Long to see how the lab prepared for — and adjusted to — COVID-19.