Diagnostic Platform for Microbiology; Screens for All Pathogenic Bacteria

(see:Breakthrough test screens for all known bacterial infections)Scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) in the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health have developed the first diagnostic platform that can simultaneously screen for all known human pathogenic bacteria as well as markers for virulence and antibiotic resistance....."Once approved for clinical use, BacCapSeq will give physicians a powerful tool to quickly and precisely screen for all known pathogenic bacteria, including those that cause sepsis, the third leading cause of death in the United States," says first author ...[of the article]. This platform is 1,000 times more sensitive than traditional unbiased testing, at a level comparable to tests that screen one bacterium at a time."Currently, the most common method used to test for sepsis can take as long as three days, and even longer to provide information on antibiotic resistance. While physicians wait for a result, they usually prescribe broad spectrum antibiotics, a practice that contributes to the growth of antibiotic resistance....BacCapSeq contains 4.2 million genetic probes used to detect the signature DNA of all 307 pathogenic bacteria, as well as biomarkers for antibiotic resistance and virulence. Each probe binds to a corresponding sequence; when a particular bacterium and biomarker is present in a sample, a magnetic process"pulls out" its unique sequences, which can then be used to identif...
Source: Lab Soft News - Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Source Type: blogs