Decoding DNA: Modern Practices for Winning the War on Bacteria

You’ve probably heard of genetic mapping. It’s become a medical research staple over the past few decades to help professionals decode and comprehend the growth potential and intent of modern diseases. But new breakthroughs are leading top microbiologists toward mapping the DNA of bacteria responsible for food poisoning outbreaks as well.

Salmonella, E.coli, campylobacter and listeria are the top food poisoning bacteria concerns for pregnant women. But microbiologists are currently focusing on listeria, the third top prenatal danger, since it’s found practically everywhere on the planet. Technical advances have already led to containing an outbreak responsible for one death and seven severe illnesses across the U.S.

The Government Puts Resources Behind the Research

DNA mapping for bacterial concerns is a relatively new concept which, due to past cost restrictions, has been performed sparingly. Since sequencing techniques are now faster and offered at cheaper rates, however, Congress has allotted the CDC with a $30 million budget for advanced molecular detection. CDC’s director, Dr. Tom Frieden, compares the application to picking a criminal offender out of a lineup using his fingerprint as opposed to hear-say or visual similarities.

Previous testing for mass bacteria threats in public health situations relied on decade-old procedures which simply did not work well enough to prevent mass breakouts. But government officials at the federal and state levels are trying to catch up by comparing all listeria breakouts thus far this year with listeria found in food sources. Decoding those DNA strains will help them determine which strains microbiologists should focus on first.

Pharmaceutical Microbiology Save the Day

As most outbreaks will occur from food, samples are sent in to labs and clinics. Pharmaceutical microbiology saves the day by implementing the most current rapid detection systems available. Utilizing specific testing procedures and microbiology instruments, results are often available within a day or two. This type of microbiology quality assurance is used in businesses all the time.

While this type of testing is usually successful for containing high pathogen counts in many types of threats, sometimes it’s fallible on a grand scale. In 2012, for example, a major outbreak in the Netherlands was linked to smoked salmon from America; however, the actual offending strains were different. An epidemiologist from the Minnesota Department of Health admitted that current testing for bacteria is relatively weak compared to the thorough genome mapping.

Making Foods Safer

Allowing microbiologists to study the bacterial DNA may very well be the first step to eliminating food poisoning concerns permanently. If the project works as planned, and genome mapping allows the CDC to instantly see which strains caused the most recent illnesses, food safety practices will change dramatically. A leading microbiologist at George Washington University has also been using DNA mapping to study the effects on antibiotic-resistant pathogens, so this could be just the tip of the iceberg for near-future medical advancements.

Applying the Tools on a Big Scale

But just how is this going to work for controlling outbreaks across the country and, eventually, globally? After all, the CDC acquired the necessary tools for the job only recently. Comparing the causes from a few sick people is one thing, but classifying multiple strains across the nation is a tall order. But with the assistance of the enormous federal database, gene maps can be stored and compared as necessary.

The listeria project began as Dr. Robert Tauxe of the CDC and a group of investigators tracked the connection of sick postnatal women and their newborns in Maryland to a resulting death in California. Standard microbiological tests pointed fingers at listeria strains in a type of Hispanic cheese, and DNA sequencing confirmed it. Current testing is appropriate when used for specific purposes but, for a widespread scale, gene mapping may just be a new age miracle.

Find out more about gene mapping and microbiological testing at Biolumix.

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