The database will provide a roadmap for
development of tests to identify pathogens and provide information about the
origin of the pathogen. The tests have the potential to significantly reduce
the typical public-health response time in outbreaks of foodborne illness to
days instead of weeks.
Open access to the database will allow
researchers to develop tests that can identify the type of bacteria present in
a sample within a matter of days or hours, significantly faster than the
approximately one week it now takes between diagnosis and genetic analysis.
Conceived by UC Davis, Agilent, and FDA
and called the 100K Genome Project, the collaboration will be a five-year
effort to sequence the genetic code of approximately 100,000 important
foodborne pathogens and make this information available in a free, public
database. The sequencing will include the genomes of important foodborne
pathogens such as salmonella, listeria, and E. coli.
"This important project will
harness the cutting-edge technology of genome sequencing to advance our
understanding of and response to foodborne outbreaks," said FDA Commissioner
Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. "FDA is pleased to contribute scientific and
technical expertise necessary to create and maintain this foodborne pathogen
database, which will be fully accessible and have long-lasting impact on
protecting public health."
The FDA is providing more than 500
already completed salmonella whole-genome draft sequences, thousands of
additional important food pathogen strains for sequencing, and bioinformatic
support. FDA scientists also will participate in guiding the project and
providing technical assistance when needed.
Agilent is providing scientific
expertise, instrumentation and funding to support a portion of UC Davis
activities.
"Each year in the United States
there are more than 48 million cases of foodborne illness," said Mike
McMullen, president of Agilent's Chemical Analysis Group. "A problem of
this magnitude demands an equally large countermeasure. We see this project as
a way to improve quality of life for a great many people, while minimizing a
major business risk for food producers and distributors."
With the goal of making the food supply
safer for consumers, the new database will significantly speed testing of raw
ingredients, finished products and environmental samples taken during
investigation of foodborne illness outbreaks. This type of information also
enables scientists to make new discoveries that drive the development of new
methods to control disease-causing bacteria in the food chain.
The CDC will provide its foodborne
disease expertise, strains to be sequenced and other information for use in the
project. CDC experts will also serve on the steering committee for the project.
"Protecting the American
population from foodborne illness is a public health priority and requires the
combined efforts of public and private partners," said Beth Bell, M.D.,
director of CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious
Diseases. "We welcome the opportunity to join in an initiative that shows
promise for advancing our technological capacity for foodborne disease
surveillance and outbreak response."
Identifying the pathogens responsible
for foodborne illnesses and outbreaks is only one part of the public-health
response. Food-safety officials still need to be able to determine which food
or ingredient is contaminated and where it came from. This can be a challenge,
especially when multi-ingredient foods are involved or the same ingredient is
sourced from multiple suppliers around the world.
When used as part of an overall
surveillance and outbreak investigation system, the genetic information in the
new database, in combination with geographic information about the pathogens,
will help public-health officials more quickly pinpoint the source of
contamination responsible for a foodborne outbreak.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Food Safety and Inspection Service will also collaborate on the project.
"This initiative shows great promise as we look to improve our ability to
identify and track down potential sources of foodborne outbreaks," said
USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen. "FSIS intends to
submit important bacterial strains from our regulatory testing program for
sequencing at UC Davis, and we look forward to the benefits this public
database could provide federal, state and local public-health agencies."
The genomic sequencing will be
coordinated by UC Davis, which is also providing access to its collection of
bacteria samples. The sequencing will be done at the newly formed BGI@UC Davis
genome sequencing facility.
"This landmark project harnesses
UC Davis' partnership with BGI, a world leader in genomics, to mine information
about the most deadly foodborne pathogens," said Harris Lewin, vice
chancellor for research at UC Davis. "It will revolutionize our basic
understanding of these disease-causing microorganisms."
As sequences are completed they will be
stored in the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Biotechnology
Information's public database.
As part of its efforts for the
collaboration, UC Davis is currently forming a consortium to support the 100K
Genome Project. The consortium participants will draw from a variety of
stakeholders, including federal, state and local public-health laboratories,
food manufacturers, industries and academic organizations.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is
the world's premier measurement company and a technology leader in chemical
analysis, life sciences, diagnostics, electronics and communications. The
company's 20,000 employees serve customers in more than 100 countries. Agilent
had net revenues of $6.6 billion in fiscal 2011. Information about Agilent is
available at www.agilent.com.