About 12,000 bacteria and viruses collected in a sampling from public transit systems and hospitals around the world from 2015 to 2017 had never before been identified, according to a study by the International MetaSUB Consortium, a global effort at tracking microbes that is led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.
Researchers use genomic sequencing technique to detect presence of various microbes
About 12,000 bacteria and viruses collected in a sampling from public transit systems and hospitals around the world from 2015 to 2017 had never before been identified, according to a study by the International MetaSUB Consortium, a global effort at tracking microbes that is led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.
For the study, published May 26 in
Cell, international investigators collected nearly 5,000 samples over a three-year period across 60 cities in 32 countries and six continents. The investigators analyzed the samples using a genomic sequencing technique called shotgun sequencing to detect the presence of various microbes, including bacteria, archaea (single-celled organisms that are distinct from bacteria), and viruses that use DNA as their genetic material. (Other types of viruses that use RNA as their genetic material, such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, would not
Podcast Review: COVID In Your Genes – The risk factors
Appeared in BioNews 1095
Genomic sequencing has numerous applications, including determining genealogy, the presence or absence of common mutations in a couple who are considering becoming pregnant, and even the susceptibility of contracting SARS-CoV-2, the virus which leads to COVID-19, and the severity of the subsequent disease.
The latter was the focus of a lively discussion in the Naked Scientists podcast series titled COVID In Your Genes – The risk factors . The discussion took place between Phil Sansom, the presenter, and Dr Nathaniel Pearson of the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative and New York Genome Centre.
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IMAGE: 95% of human cell lines used in countless medical research studies are of European descent. view more
Credit: Peter Morris for Children s Medical Research Institute
Sydney, Australia; New York City, USA (May 13, 2021) In a collaborative report published today in
Cell, scientists from Sydney and New York describe the critical worldwide need to improve the diversity of cells used in medical research. Currently, 95% of all human cell lines used in research are of European descent. The authors provide actionable steps that researchers and the biomedical community can take to promote more inclusivity in preclinical and basic science research.
The commentary, Ancestry Matters: Building inclusivity into preclinical study design, is co-authored by Sophie Zaaijer, PhD, who co-founded FIND Genomics (findgen.bio), a company that aims to improve reproducible cell-based science through its genetic cell tracking software FIND Cell , and is affiliated with Corne
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IMAGE: Mixscape separates a mixture of cells into perturbed (yellow) and non-perturbed ( escaping, grey) cells. view more
Credit: New York University/New York Genome Center
A team of researchers from New York University and the New York Genome Center has developed a new computational tool to help understand the function and regulation of human genes. The results, published today in the journal
Nature Genetics, demonstrate how to interpret experiments that combine the use of CRISPR to perturb genes along with multimodal single-cell sequencing technologies.
The article describes how the new approach, called mixscape, helped to identify a new molecular mechanism for the regulation of immune checkpoint proteins that govern the immune system s ability to identify and destroy cancer cells.