BACKGROUND
Pathogen detection has always been a challenge in diagnostics. Current techniques like polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or bacterial/viral culture are reliable but carry some pitfalls. Primarily, PCR techniques are unable to detect more than five targets, and culturing methods are incredibly time consuming. Recently, metagenomic sequencing approaches where the entire genomic content of a sample is sequenced and tested have been proposed as solutions to pathogen testing, enabling testing for any number of pathogens. However, there is a lack of tools to implement this solution to the greatest limitation of pathogenic detection currently standing.
SUMMARY OF TECHNOLOGY
Researchers at OSU have created a web-based platform to detect and diagnose multiple pathogens in a given sample, called MiFi®. This technology uses metagenomic sequencing and is developed from two parts: MiProbe™ and MiDetect™. MiProbe houses the tools needed for building and validating E-probes, which are carefully designed unique nucleic acid signatures of pathogen genomes. After processing the sample input files, MiProbe outputs the E-probe sequences to MiDetect. MiDetect is the diagnostic side of the program, rapidly identifying the genetic signatures of target pathogens in metagenomic datasets. This approach presents several substantial advantages over conventional methods of pathogen diagnostics. Primarily, E-Probes can be developed for any pathogen or pest, so rather than doing many sequential tests, MiDetect users can test for all pathogens of concern in a singe test on a single sample. Additionally, no isolation or amplification is needed for the samples, making it faster and more versatile than PCR tests.
POTENTIAL AREAS OF APPLICATION
- Agricultural regulatory facilities (e.g., USDA)
- Food safety labs (e.g., FDA, retail food chains, IEH)
- Water testing laboratories
- Human pathogen detection
- Research laboratories
MAIN ADVANTAGES
- Multiplexing capacity up to unlimited number of pathogens
- Single protocol for sample and library preparation
- Faster and more versatile than PCR
- Allows to re-query for new diseases in the future
STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT
This technology is available as a fully working model.