FDA Collaborates on Public Foodborne Bacteria Genome Database

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will take part in a collaborative
effort to create a public database that will contain 100,000 foodborne
pathogen genomes to help facilitate the identification of those responsible
for outbreaks involving bacteria such as Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli. Called
“The 100K Genome Project,” the undertaking will apparently be a five-year
genetic sequencing program openly accessible to researchers and others
helping to develop tests that would identify the type of bacteria present in a sample within days or hours. According to one project participant, “Each year
in the United States there are more than 48 million cases of foodborne illness.
A problem of this magnitude demands an equally large countermeasure.” See
FDA News Release, July 12, 2012.