The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently put whole genome sequencing technology — which maps the entire DNA sequences of microbes to distinguish one strain from another — to use in its investigation into a
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Emerging Pathogens: Is E. Coli O104:H4 the Next Strain to Watch?
In May 2011, a virtually unknown strain of E. coli, known as O104:H4, made worldwide headlines when an outbreak in Germany sickened approximately 4,000 people and killed 50, including one American. This event, linked to
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UC Davis Begins Sequencing for 100K Pathogen Genome Project
The 100K Pathogen Genome Project at the University of California, Davis–which was launched in 2012 as a collaborative project with Agilent Technologies and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration–announced this week it has sequenced the
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FDA Spends $17 Million to Go After Pathogens Faster
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is spending $17 million on technology it hopes will be fast enough to catch fresh produce with pathogen contamination. FDA has awarded a five-year contract to Illumina Inc,
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Genome Sequencing of 100,000 Foodborne Pathogens Underway
Over the past three years, scientists at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have conducted whole genome sequencing on over hundreds of foodborne pathogens to get a detailed map of their DNA. Now, with the
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O104:H4 Genome Sequencing Used to Kill the Bug
The deadly pathogen known as E. coli O104:H4, which devastated northern Europe last year, can itself be killed, San Francisco-based AvidBiotics Corporation announced Wednesday.
Dean Scholl, who leads a team of scientists from AvidBiotics and
Clues to Deadly EU ‘Sproutbreak’ in New Genome Study
In one of the first uses of genome sequencing to trace the path of a foodborne illness outbreak, a team led by scientists from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the Broad Institute looked
Beyond PFGE: Genomic Mapping Pinpoints Pathogens
A team of researchers led by food scientists at Cornell University has developed a new, highly accurate approach to identifying bacteria responsible for foodborne illnesses. According to the team, it should allow scientists to identify