How Whole Genome Sequencing Helps Protect the Food Supply
Constituent Update
April 27, 2017
Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is an advanced technology that the FDA is increasingly using to better understand foodborne pathogens, including identifying the nature and source of microbes that contaminate food and cause outbreaks of illness. For example, it was recently used to help match samples of soft cheese to the genetic fingerprint of Listeria monocytogenes involved in a deadly foodborne illness outbreak in early March.
The FDA has been a leader in spreading the use of this technology in government labs at the state, federal, and international levels. Eric Brown, Ph.D., the director of the Division of Microbiology at FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and Marc Allard, Ph.D., the center’s senior biomedical research services officer for genomics, talk about how the agency is using WGS now and the future role of this technology in keeping consumers safe from contaminated foods.
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