Erika Eiser was in the group that proved that it is possible to identify bacteria and viruses more effectively with a new method. Credit: Marie-Laure Olivier, PoreLab, NTNU
Key points:
- Researchers have developed a method that identifies bacteria easily, cheaply and more precisely than before.
- The method eliminates gene amplification completely, significantly speeding up the analysis process.
In a positive step forward in the fight against antibiotic resistance, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have developed a better method for identifying pathogens. The simple tool can identify all of the genetic material in bacteria, allowing researchers and clinicians to find out more quickly what kind of bacteria a sick person or animal is affected by, or what kind of bacteria are found in food or the environment.
The decision makers are then well-informed enough to decide whether it is really necessary to use antibiotics against the bacterium or not.
The new method enables researchers to find short sequences of the bacteria’s DNA by seeing how these sequences bind to different variants of DNA that are grafted onto colloids.
“Using this method, we saw how as few as five E. coli bacteria caused the colloids to create clusters,” said lead study author Erika Eiser at NTNU.
One reason why the method is faster is that users do not have to go through gene amplification. Normally, this involves making several copies of the genetic material so it is easier to analyze, but this step can now be skipped.
The bottom line is: researchers don’t have to analyze so much material. They can skip the step of having to copy them, and this saves time and money.
The research is proof-of-principle right now, so the team will be working in the coming months to advance the method to the next stage in anticipation of eventually becoming a widely used method.