(Press-News.org) New nanopore DNA sequencing technology on a device the size of a USB stick could be used to diagnose infection - according to new research from the University of East Anglia and Public Health England.
Researchers tested the new technology with a complex problem - determining the cause of antibiotic resistance in a new multi-drug resistant strain of the bacterium that causes Typhoid.
The results, published today in the journal Nature Biotechnology, reveal that the small, accessible and cost effective technology could revolutionise genomic sequencing.
Current technology for 'long read' detailed genomic sequencing can be performed using expensive instrumentation (around £500,000). It is complex to perform, and generally only available in specialist laboratories.
The research team tested a new device called MinION, produced by Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd. The machine produces long sequencing reads using a different methodology that does not require optimal imaging - but at a small fraction of the instrument cost (expected to be around £650 per device). These long reads are important when trying to determine where resistance genes are.
Researchers proved its utility by successfully mapping the multi-drug resistance genes in a strain called Salmonella Typhi haplotype H58 - which has recently emerged globally.
They successfully pinpointed the exact spot in the chromosomal structure that is home to the genes which makes it drug-resistant, known as an antibiotic resistance island. The MinION took just 18 hours to produce the results, with similar accuracy to current technologies.
Lead researcher Dr Justin O'Grady, from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said: "This type of technology will revolutionise the way that we characterise the rapid spread of emerging antibiotic-resistant infectious diseases.
"This analysis would previously have taken months using traditional methods, due to extensive post-sequencing lab-based analysis. By the time the results are available, they might well be irrelevant for clinical diagnostics and guiding public health interventions.
"This is the first published research in the world to demonstrate the huge potential of MinION sequencing to solve important and complex biological problems.
"Public health and clinical laboratories could soon have easy access to this rapid, cheap technology which, in combination with short read sequencing, is capable of providing fully assembled bacterial genomes. Further improvements to the system are likely to remove the need for short read sequence data.
"MinION technology could potentially enable bacterial identification, diagnosis of infectious diseases and detection of drug-resistance at the point of clinical need.
"This type of technology makes next generation sequencing accessible to scientists everywhere."
INFORMATION:
The research was funded by Norwich Medical School, UEA. The international team included researchers from UEA, Public Health England, the University of Sassari in Italy, and the National Reference Centre for Salmonellae in Germany.
'MinION nanopore sequencing identifies the position and structure of a bacterial antibiotic resistance island' is published in the journal Nature Biotechnology on December 8, 2014.
For a small percentage of cancer patients, treatment aimed at curing the disease leads to a form of leukemia with a poor prognosis. Conventional thinking goes that chemotherapy and radiation therapy induce a barrage of damaging genetic mutations that kill cancer cells yet inadvertently spur the development of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a blood cancer.
But a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis challenges the view that cancer treatment in itself is a direct cause of what is known as therapy-related AML.
Rather, the research suggests, ...
BOSTON and CAMBRIDGE -- The genetic tumult within cancerous tumors is more than matched by the disorder in one of the mechanisms for switching cells' genes on and off, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard report in a new study. Their findings, published online today in the journal Cancer Cell, indicate that the disarray in the on-off mechanism - known as methylation - is one of the defining characteristics of cancer and helps tumors adapt to changing circumstances.
The researchers also showed that derangement in ...
BOSTON -- Small cell lung cancer - a disease for which no new drugs have been approved for many years - has shown itself vulnerable to an agent that disables part of tumor cells' basic survival machinery, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported.
In a study published today in the journal Cancer Cell, the investigators found that the agent THZ1 caused human-like small cell lung tumors in mice to shrink significantly, with no apparent side effects. The compound is now being developed into a drug for testing ...
COLUMBUS, OH - As interest in organic agricultural and horticultural practices continues to grow, so does the need to identify alternative weed control practices. Mulching, a common practice used to control weeds and reduce the need for tillage, can also reduce insect pollinators' exposure to harmful pesticides; however, finding the right mulch materials that allow pollinators to flourish can be challenging. Caitlin E. Splawski, from The Ohio State University Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, researched the effects of several types of organic mulch on squash ...
WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2014 -- There's probably a box of it in your fridge or cupboard, and it has a million uses: baking soda. Reactions is back with volume four of its popular Chemistry Life Hacks series, with tips on how to de-skunk your dog, clean your kitchen and supercharge your washing machine. Check out the latest in the series that's one-part MacGyver, one-part Mendeleev here: http://youtu.be/85diRmuk-ow.
Subscribe to the series at Reactions YouTube, and follow us on Twitter @ACSreactions to be the first to see our latest videos.
The American Chemical Society ...
Nearly half of all children in the United States are exposed to at least one social or family experience that can lead to traumatic stress and impact their healthy development - be it having their parents divorce, a parent die or living with someone who abuses alcohol or drugs - increasing the risk of negative long-term health consequences or of falling behind in school, suggests new research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The study reports on new data showing the magnitude of these adverse experiences in the child population in the U.S., ...
Voters are more willing to pay for a decreased risk of food-related illness than consumers, but female consumers are more willing to pay than male consumers, according to an international team of researchers.
"The question is, what would consumers prefer?" said Amit Sharma, associate professor of hospitality management and finance, Penn State. "Would they prefer a market-driven, or a policy-driven approach? Either of those two approaches could lead to some price increase. Improving quality costs money, and food safety is no different."
Sharma and colleagues wanted to ...
In the days shortly after giving birth, most mothers experience a period of increased calmness and decreased stress responses, but around 20% of mothers experience anxiety. Some women may become depressed, and around one in a thousand can develop psychosis. The latest evidence indicates that these distressing responses to motherhood are still poorly understood, but that animal research could provide valuable clues to their causes.
Writing in the British Journal of Pharmacology, Dr David Slattery and Dr Clara Perani highlight that anxiety, depression and psychosis during ...
Wind turbine developments have no effect on property values of nearby homes and farms, according to new research from the University of Guelph.
Published in a recent issue of the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, the study is believed the first peer-reviewed study on this issue in Canada.
It was conducted by Richard Vyn, a professor in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics, and Ryan McCullough, a former U of G graduate student and now a policy analyst for Health Canada.
They analyzed more than 7,000 home and farm sales in Melancthon ...
PORTICI, ITALY - As water becomes scarcer in arid and semiarid regions across the globe, the floriculture industry is looking for ways to reduce water usage and produce ornamental plants more efficiently. Chiara Cirillo and members of an Italian research team coordinated by Professor Stefania De Pascale, say that understanding flowering plants' response to water management is critical for optimizing the production of high-quality potted ornamentals. "Water-saving irrigation management strategies are among the options available to horticultural growers to reduce water consumption ...
