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NLM's National Center for Biotechnology Information Receives HHSinnovates Award(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WASHINGTON, July 24 -- The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' National Library of Medicine has issued the following news: A collaborative project between the National Library of Medicine's National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and several other federal and state partners, to reduce the time and improve the accuracy of detecting foodborne pathogens by using whole genome sequencing (WGS) techniques, received the HHSinnovates award on July 21, 2014. The HHSinnovates program was initiated in 2010 to recognize new ideas and solutions developed by HHS employees and their collaborators. Six finalist teams were recognized at the awards ceremony. The WGS Food Safety Project, which also involved the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and state public health laboratories, was one of three projects to be honored as "Secretary's Picks" by HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell. Presenting the award, HHS Deputy Secretary Bill Corr said, "Together all these folks engaged in a demonstration project to showcase the benefits of using whole genome sequencing for food surveillance and detection purposes. They showed that whole genome sequencing can produce faster detection of foodborne pathogens than the traditional method, helping us stop an outbreak of disease in its tracks, and for that we deeply appreciate your work." The award went to the specific individuals leading the project in the various agencies; in the case of NCBI, Senior Scientist William Klimke, PhD, was honored for his work in heading NCBI's part of the project. WGS provides greater specificity than other techniques, such as the commonly used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), in identifying the DNA fingerprint of bacteria. It also can more rapidly determine whether isolates are related to a foodborne disease outbreak. The demonstration project involves real-time sequencing of Listeria monocytogenes isolates from human DNA as well as the food supply chain. In the project, the whole genomes of isolates are sequenced and the sequencing data are sent to NCBI, which performs assembly, annotation and analysis, and then sends results back to CDC, FDA, USDA and the labs. Collaborative projects using WGS for other pathogens related to food safety are also underway. The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) creates public databases in molecular biology, conducts research in computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing molecular and genomic data, and disseminates biomedical information, all for the better understanding of processes affecting human health and disease. NCBI is a division of the National Library of Medicine. The world's largest biomedical library, the National Library of Medicine maintains and makes available a vast print collection and produces electronic information resources on a wide range of topics that are searched billions of times each year by millions of people around the globe. It also supports and conducts research, development and training in biomedical informatics and health information technology. TNS 30VianaGem - 140725-4809193 30VianaGem (c) 2014 Targeted News Service |