IT Solutions
Science software can map typhoid outbreaks
Oct 17 2011
Scientists have been struggling to accurately track the spread of typhoid and identify its source as measuring mutations in the pathogen's DNA when the DNA replicates has been thwarted by the small number of mutations, with many not detectable by most techniques, a study in the journal Open Biology revealed.
The team from the Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programme in Vietnam and the Oxford University Clinical Research Units in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, also explained that a lack of street names in Nepal made mapping the spread very difficult.
However, the team has now created new science software which combines DNA sequencing technology and GPS signalling, and maps the data onto Google Earth.
"Without this information, our ability to understand the transmission of these diseases has been significantly hampered. Now, advances in technology have allowed us for the first time to create accurate geographical and genetic maps of the spread of typhoid and trace it back to its sources," said Dr Stephen Baker from the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam.
Digital Edition
International Labmate 49.6 - Sept 2024
September 2024
Chromatography Articles - HPLC gradient validation using non-invasive flowmeters Mass Spectrometry & Spectroscopy Articles - From R&D to QC, making NMR accessible for everyone: Putting NMR...
View all digital editions
Events
Sep 22 2024 Messina, Italy
19th Confocal Raman Imaging Symposium
Sep 23 2024 Ulm, Germany
Sep 24 2024 Kielce, Poland
WoTS - World of Technology and Science
Sep 24 2024 Utrecht, Holland
Sep 25 2024 Frankfurt am Main, Germany