Genomics offers the ability to keep an eye on disease outbreaks as they pop up and begin to spread, but as the University of Birmingham's Nick Loman writes at The Conversation, that ability has largely been restricted so far to academic medical centers.
Members of his lab, though, are working on bringing that capability to disease epicenters, a move he says will decrease the time it takes for public health experts and others to react to outbreaks.
Josh Quick, a graduate student in the Loman lab, flew to Guinea, where the Ebola outbreak is ongoing, with a portable genomic surveillance system — containing several Oxford Nanopore MinIONs and associated reagents — in his baggage. Loman writes that this portable system, once set up in the European Mobile Laboratory, enabled them to generate 14 Ebola genome sequences, many within 48 hours of collecting a blood sample from the patient.
This, Loman says, can help epidemiologists in their quest to stop the spread of disease. By comparing various viral samples, they can establish a chain of transmission or uncover new networks to explore, he notes.
And it's not just for viral detection. Such genomic surveillance could also track bacterial outbreaks, including food-borne infections, Loman adds.
"Genome inatoa uwezo wa kuweka jicho juu ya milipuko ya magonjwa kama wao pop up na kuanza kuenea, lakini kama Chuo Kikuu cha Birmingham Nick Loman anaandika katika ""The Conversation,"" uwezo huo imekuwa kwa kiasi kikubwa mpaka sasa imefungwa kwa vituo vya matibabu ya kitaaluma." Hata hivyo, wataalamu wa maabara yake wanafanya kazi ya kuingiza uwezo huo katika maeneo ya magonjwa, hatua ambayo anasema itapunguza muda unaotumiwa na wataalamu wa afya ya umma na wengine kukabiliana na milipuko. Josh Quick, mwanafunzi wa kuhitimu katika maabara ya Loman, alisafiri kwenda Guinea, ambapo mlipuko wa Ebola unaendelea, na mfumo wa ufuatiliaji wa genomu inayoweza kubebwa - ikiwa na MinIONs kadhaa za Oxford Nanopore na reagents zinazohusiana - katika mizigo yake. Loman anaandika kuwa mfumo huu wa kubebeka, mara moja kuanzishwa katika Maabara ya Ulaya ya Mobile, iliwawezesha kuzalisha mfululizo wa 14 wa genome ya Ebola, wengi ndani ya masaa 48 ya kukusanya sampuli ya damu kutoka kwa mgonjwa. Loman anasema, jambo hilo linaweza kuwasaidia wataalamu wa magonjwa ya kuambukiza katika jitihada zao za kuzuia kuenea kwa magonjwa. Kwa kulinganisha sampuli mbalimbali za virusi, wanaweza kuanzisha mlolongo wa maambukizi au kufunua mitandao mipya ya kuchunguza. Na sio tu kwa ajili ya kugundua virusi. Ufuatiliaji huo wa genomu unaweza pia kufuatilia milipuko ya bakteria, ikiwa ni pamoja na maambukizo yanayopitishwa na chakula, Loman anaongeza.