CosmosID Metagenomics for Rapid Detection of Enteric Pathogens and Characterization of Antimicrobial Resistance in Health and Disease

Abstract: High throughput sequencing, combined with a high resolution bioinformatics platform, provides a powerful tool for  researching enteric diseases and for agricultural and environmental applications. Results of a case control study, comprising samples of known and unknown disease etiology, as well as healthy individuals showed the intestinal microbiome could potentially be used in differentiating healthy, diseased, and asymptomatic carriers, as well as individuals in early stages of infection. Other examples include microbiology of wastewater reuse demonstrating the power of metagenomics to identify the microbial community of pathogens, indicator organisms, and natural microbiota to determine the safety of drinking water derived from recycled wastewater. The CosmosID system provides identification to species and strain within minutes, offers information on antibiotic resistance and pathogenicity factors, and provides relative abundance. The system has been used in analyzing over 25,000 samples to date.