USA

FDA launches a new tool for antibiotic-resistant genes

Genetics

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration launched an interactive research tool called Resistome Tracker, one of the first publicly available tools to provide visually informative displays of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria.

Posted on Nov 15 ,14:18

FDA launches a new tool for antibiotic-resistant genes

 

According to FDA, the Resistome Tracker was mainly designed for public health officials, academics and researchers who are using new genomics technologies to track and treat infectious diseases.

The interactive interface of FDA's new tool allows users to customize visualizations by antibiotic drug class, compare resistance genes across different sources, identify new resistance genes, and map selected resistance genes to geographic region.

"Whole genome sequencing (WGS) enables researchers to determine the complete DNA sequence of a bacterium, providing a wealth of information on different traits in microorganisms that could not easily be uncovered previously. FDA scientists have used these new sequencing technologies to show that for the bacteria targeted in the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS), antibiotic resistance can be predicted with a high degree of confidence from the DNA sequence (McDermott, et al., Zhao et al)," the FDA statement read.

FDA announced that the new tool is focused on antibiotic resistance genes in Salmonella. Salmonella genome sequences from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) public databases are uploaded to Resistome Tracker on a weekly basis, allowing near real-time monitoring of antibiotic resistance. Presently, Resistome Tracker includes WGS data on 97,390 genomes from NCBI, 27,512 of which are U.S. isolates and 8,900 are isolated from the NARMS. Future iterations of the tool will include data on other microorganisms such as E. coli and Campylobacter as well as additional gene categories such as serotype, sequence type and virulence genes.

 NEWSLETTER - Stay informed with the latest news!

Comments





Similar articles

SPAIN

Spain: Commitment of the pig sector to sustainability

In this regard, in October 2022 INTERPORC launched a comprehensive sustainability strategy. This ...


Read more Read more
BRAZIL

Brazil: Sao Paulo launched a voluntary bovine traceability program

The announcement was made by the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, accomp...


Read more Read more
USA

McDonald’s USA, Syngenta and Lopez Foods collaborate to produce beef more sustainably

Enogen® corn is an in-seed innovation available exclusively from Syngenta, that has been...


Read more Read more
Websolutions by Angular Software and SpiderClass