Microbes Dataset

Novel DNA sequencing technologies have proliferated over the past two decades. Continual improvements in “next-generation sequencing” (NGS) and “third-generation sequencing” (TGS) have increased the fidelity and rate of sequencing, but it still takes hours or days to obtain complete sequences. Furthermore, there are some diagnostic applications in which very rapid identification of a particular gene or genetic species becomes essential, while identification of all genes is not necessary. For example, in patients with septic shock from bacterial infections, identification of antibiotic-resistance genes is essential because the mortality rate increases 7.6% per hour of delay in administering correct antibiotics. Unfortunately, it takes more than 24 h to grow up the bacteria recovered from the blood of an infected patient, identify the species, and then determine to which antibiotics the organism is resistant, leading to a very high mortality rate for such infections.

Bacterial antibiotic resistance is becoming a significant health threat, and rapid identification of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is essential to save lives and reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance.