Nanopore Sequencing in Disease Outbreaks

Pocket-Sized Sequencers Play Pivotal Role in Ebola Outbreak and Beyond
Pocket-sized genome sequencers have the potential to revolutionize disease outbreak response in remote and resource-depleted areas, providing rapid and accurate pathogen details that could inform physicians about outbreak and treatment procedures, NIAID scientists report in a new study. At a diagnostic field laboratory serving Ebola virus treatment centers in Monrovia, Liberia, NIAID scientists tested MinION devices to sense molecules in blood samples and compared the results to traditional sequencing. The results helped scientists determine early on that the Ebola virus spreading through West Africa was genetically stable compared to prior outbreaks.

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