Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

J Mol Diagn 2021 Feb 19. Epub 2021 Feb 19.

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. Electronic address:

The identification of gene fusions is a cornerstone of diagnosis and treatment decision making for tumors of many forms and primary sites. Diverse molecular approaches are currently used for the molecular diagnosis of fusions, but few permit broad, partner agnostic detection of fusions over multiple potential targets. We previously described the combination of nanopore sequencing with the anchored multiplex PCR technique to permit a rapid testing paradigm. Read More

Front Plant Sci 2020 4;11:602313. Epub 2021 Feb 4.

Agriculture Victoria Research, AgriBio, The Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, VIC, Australia.

Molecular characterization of genetically modified plants can provide crucial information for the development of detection and identification methods, to comply with traceability, and labeling requirements prior to commercialization. Detailed description of the genetic modification was previously a challenging step in the safety assessment, since it required the use of laborious and time-consuming techniques. In this study an accurate, simple, and fast method was developed for molecular characterization of genetically modified (GM) plants, following a user-friendly workflow for researchers with limited bioinformatic capabilities. Read More

Hum Immunol 2021 Feb 18. Epub 2021 Feb 18.

Department of Genetics, Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.

Nanopore sequencing has been investigated as a rapid and cost-efficient option for HLA typing in recent years. Despite the lower raw read accuracy, encouraging typing accuracy has been reported, and long reads from the platform offer additional benefits of the improved phasing of distant variants. The newly released R10. Read More

NPJ Sci Food 2021 Feb 15;5(1). Epub 2021 Feb 15.

Food Bioscience Department, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Cork, Ireland.

Efficient and accurate identification of microorganisms throughout the food chain can potentially allow the identification of sources of contamination and the timely implementation of control measures. High throughput DNA sequencing represents a potential means through which microbial monitoring can be enhanced. While Illumina sequencing platforms are most typically used, newer portable platforms, such as the Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) MinION, offer the potential for rapid analysis of food chain microbiomes. Read More

J Glob Antimicrob Resist 2021 Feb 10;24:370-372. Epub 2021 Feb 10.

Department of Clinical Laboratory, Hangzhou Children's Hospital, Hangzhou, China. Electronic address:

Objectives: The global spread of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales is a leading public-health threat. Lack of effective treatment has resulted in use of colistin as a last-resort therapeutic option for multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections. Here we report the complete genome sequence of a MDR Escherichia coli strain carrying a plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene mcr-1 recovered from a Chinese paediatric patient. Read More