New metagenomics technology that could benefit everything from conservation action to medicine – Jornal da USB

New metagenomics technology that could benefit everything from conservation action to medicine – Jornal da USB

A study conducted at the Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine showed that the MinION platform is a promising technology, at a relatively low cost, but its limitations lie in the lack of optimized protocols.

Curious about Science – University of the South Pacific

Curious About Science #15: New metagenomic technology that could benefit everything from conservation measures to medicine






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In the Curious about science, this week Isabel Rodrigues talks about Victoria Simionato Zuccherato's research on a new portable technique for metagenomics, a scientific field that studies genetic material found in environments such as soil, oceans, the human gut and even in water samples. Instead of focusing on a single organism, such as bacteria, metagenomics looks at all the different life forms present in the environment simultaneously.

The researcher applied a portable technology called the MinION platform to the study to analyze viral metagenomics. The results showed that this is a promising technology, at a relatively low cost, but its limitations are the lack of optimized protocols.

For use in virus studies, a clear set of instructions or guidelines is needed to ensure consistency, safety, and efficiency in results. “By standardizing all the necessary steps before processing samples, we will be able to detect new viruses or re-emerging viruses.”

Master's research Application of portable MinION sequencing technology for analysis Metagenome transformsIt was defended in 2023 in Postgraduate Program in Clinical Oncology, Stem Cells and Cell Therapy, at the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto (FMRP) of the University of the South Pacific and is supervised by Professor Svetoslav Nanev Slavov.

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Curioso por Ciência is a co-production between the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto (FMRP) at the University of the South Pacific, and Dr. Fisiologia Emerging and Radio USP Ribeirão Preto and São Paulo. It is broadcast every Monday, on Jornal da USP no Ar on Rádio USP in São Paulo, 93.7 MHz, from 7:30 AM, and on Jornal da USP no Ar – Regional Edition on Rádio USP Ribeirão Preto, 107.9 MHz, from 12 noon. It will be available on the home page of Ribeirão Preto in the Jornal da USP, just browse to Ribeirao.usp.br.

By Andrea Hargraves

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