Tracking infectious disease 'barcodes'

The fastest and cheapest way yet of identifying and tracking the bugs that cause major human infections is being trialled at Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

The novel method of computer directed DNA fingerprinting has been developed by the collaborative research organisation, CRC for Diagnostics. It will allow more effective monitoring of outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, meningitis and food poisoning - which ultimately could help stop infection spreading.

The project, which was part funded by Queensland's Department of State Development and Innovation, is expected to be taken up by Queensland Health in the next few months.

Dr Phil Giffard, of QUT's School of Life Sciences and leader of the CRC for Diagnostics project, says it will be particularly useful in the fight against the antibiotic-resistant bacteria, MRSA.

Microorganisms are continually arriving, departing and emerging and public health measures must be in place to track differences between strains and their ability to cause disease. Current methods analyse a strain's genetic makeup - or genotype - by looking at the sequence of their DNA or comparing the length of fragments of DNA.

The genotype is like a 'barcode' that reveals how closely-related different samples are making it possible to track the transmission of particular strains globally or within a single healthcare facility.

The CRC has developed a streamlined approach to deriving the barcode. It is faster and cheaper than either sequence or fragment length measurement-based approaches. In addition, it has been designed to be easily adaptable to emerging DNA-chip technologies making it much faster and cheaper still.