Paper / The Role of Genomics in the Identification, Prediction, and Prevention of Biological Threats

The Role of Genomics in the Identification, Prediction, and Prevention of Biological Threats

출처: Plos Biology, 2009
저자: W. Florian Fricke
분야: Genome science
키워드: Genomic

Abstract

Since the publication in 1995 of the first complete genome sequence of a free-living organism, the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae [1], more than 1,000 genomes of species from all three domains of life—Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya—have been completed and a staggering 4,300 are in progress (not including an even larger number of viral genome projects) (GOLD, Genomes Online Database v.2.0; http://www.genomesonline.org/gold.cgi, as of August 2009). Whole-genome shotgun sequencing remains the standard in biomedical, biotechnological, environmental, agricultural, and evolutionary genomics (http://genomesonline.org/gold_statistics.htm#aname). While nextgeneration sequencing technology is changing the field, this approach will continue to be used and lead to a
previously unimaginable number of genome sequences, providing opportunities that could not have been thought of a few years ago. These opportunities include studying genomes in real-time to understand the evolution of known pathogens and predict the emergence of new infectious agents (Box 1). With the introduction of next-generation sequencing platforms, cost has decreased dramatically, resulting in genomics no longer being an independent
discipline, but becoming a tool routinely used in laboratories around the world to address scientific questions. This
global sequencing effort has been focusing primarily on pathogenic organisms, which today are still the subject of the majority of genome projects [2]. Sequencing two to five strains of the same pathogen has, in recent years, afforded us not only a better understanding of evolution, virulence, and biology in general [3], but, taken to the next level (hundreds or thousands of strains) it will enable even more accurate diagnostics to support epidemiological studies, food safety improvements, public health protection, and forensics investigations, among others.