CGE: Center for Genomic Epidemiology

The cost of sequencing a bacterial genome is $50 and is expected to decrease further in the near future and the equipment needed cost less than $150 000. Thus, within a few years all clinical microbiological laboratories will have a sequencer in use on a daily basis. The price of genome sequencing is already so low that whole genome sequencing will also find worldwide application in human and veterinary practices as well as many other places where bacteria are handled. In Denmark alone this equals more than 1 million isolates annually in 15-20 laboratories and globally up to 1-2 billion isolates per year. The limiting factor will therefore in the future not be the cost of the sequencing, but how to assemble, process and handle the large amount of data in a standardized way that will make the information useful, especially for diagnostic and surveillance.
The aim of this center is to provide the scientific foundation for future internet-based solutions where a central database will enable simplification of total genome sequence information and comparison to all other sequenced including spatial-temporal analysis. We will develop algorithms for rapid analyses of whole genome DNA-sequences, tools for analyses and extraction of information from the sequence data and internet/web-interfaces for using the tools in the global scientific and medical community. The activity is being expanded to also include other microorganisms, such as vira and parasites as well as metagenomic samples.