One Microbiome Bug at a Time
“Researchers [at Icahn School of Medicine, Mt. Sinai] have developed a ‘smart tweezer’ that is able to pluck a particular bacterial strain from a microbiome of trillions and sequence its genome in a more cost and resource-effective way than current methods allow. The versatile tool could enable precision microbiome research and breakthroughs in disease diagnosis and treatment. . . . . In developing mEnrich-seq, the researchers aimed to differentiate bacteria from each other before sequencing to enrich bacteria of interest and deplete background DNA. To do this, the tool exploits the naturally occurring bacterial DNA methylation motifs, the ‘secret codes’ written on bacterial DNA that they use to differentiate themselves as part of their native immune systems.” MORE
Image Credit: NewAtlas