Using Informatics-, Bioinformatics- and Genomics-Based Approaches for the Molecular Surveillance and Detection of Biothreat Agents

Abstract

The convergence and wealth of informatics, bioinformatics and genomics methods and associated resources allow a comprehensive and rapid approach for the surveillance and detection of bacterial and viral organisms. Coupled with the continuing race for the fastest, most cost-efficient and highest-quality DNA sequencing technology, that is, “next generation sequencing”, the detection of biological threat agents by ‘cheaper and faster’ means is possible. With the application of improved bioinformatic tools for the understanding of these genomes and for parsing unique pathogen genome signatures, along with ‘state-of-the-art’ informatics which include faster computational methods, equipment and databases, it is feasible to apply new algorithms to biothreat agent detection. Two such methods are high-throughput DNA sequencing-based and resequencing microarray-based identification. These are illustrated and validated by two examples involving human adenoviruses, both from real-world test beds.