Metagenome Kit: An advanced laboratory and software solution for end-to-end diagnostic and typing of foodborne pathogenic gut bacteria

The aim is to build an efficient and easy-to-use analysis tool for diagnostics, typing and epidemiological analysis of pathogenic gut bacteria. The future diagnosis of pathogenic bacteria is expected to migrate towards molecular methods that provide a simple diagnosis, but do not provide a bacterial isolate. The isolate is essential for further analysis of the bacteria, e.g., to track the source of infection and to test for antibiotic resistance. Hence, there is a need for new methods that use the advantages of the latest techniques to diagnose, but also to generate the required detailed knowledge of the bacteria.



The project aims to replace the current cumbersome and culture-based method with a one- step, user-friendly analysis tool. DNA extraction methods will be developed so that DNA can be purified directly from complex samples and sequenced. Subsequently, the presence, type and characteristics of the disease-causing bacteria will be determined in a single bioinformatic analysis. The tool will also result in reduced analysis time that will benefit patients and tracking of the source of infection.