Oxford Nanopore Technologies and BioMĂ©rieux on Friday announced that they are jointly exploring nanopore-based clinical research and in vitro diagnostic (IVD) solutions.
Nanopore-based sequencing enables analysis of long DNA or RNA fragments, monitoring changes to an electrical current as nucleic acids are passed through a protein nanopore. The resulting signal is decoded to provide the specific DNA or RNA sequence.
The real-time, scalable features of the technology make it ideal for the rapid and cost-effective characterization of pathogens in clinical samples, the firms noted.
Initial areas of collaboration will include a test for determining antibiotic resistance of tuberculosis, an assay to identify pathogens in normally sterile clinical samples, and validating Oxford Nanopore’s sequencing platform with the BioMérieux Episeq CS software application for rapid infection outbreak monitoring in patient-care settings.
