PathoFact identifies pathogens faster and more accurately
2021
Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
The authors have developed a new bioinformatics tool based on metagenomic data that can help them identify pathogens much faster and more accurately than it was ever possible with conventional diagnostic methods. Using high-throughput methods, they sequence all of the genome fragments obtained from samples that potentially contain pathogenic organisms. The new bioinformatics tool, PathoFact, compares these gene sequences against an integrated database. PathoFact identifies the genes of microorganisms that are responsible for their pathogenic potential or – in the case of bacteria – their antibiotic resistance. Based on this knowledge, the researchers can determine which pathogens are responsible for an infection and, in future clinical practice, suggest suitable treatments. PathoFact furthermore helps scientists to better understand the influence of microorganisms in the onset of chronic diseases such as Parkinson’s disease or rheumatoid arthritis.
PathoFact: a pipeline for the prediction of virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance genes in metagenomic data
Paul Wilmes
Added on: 05-11-2021
[1] https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-020-00993-9[2] https://www.bionity.com/en/news/1170101/pathofact-identifies-pathogens-faster-and-more-accurately.html
