I continued watching the “Celebrating a decade of DNA discoveries: 10 years of the MinION in microbiology” ASM Microbe 2024 session. Matthew Keller, a Biologist with the Genomics & Diagnostics division at the Centers for Disease Control, was the last speaker. Keller’s team focuses on sequencing influenza viruses to monitor seasonal dynamics/surveillance. However, Keller noted that humans are not the only ones who can harbor influenza viruses. The team created a portable lab-in-a-box. They tested the kit out at swine exhibits. One event had 3000 pigs, and they swabbed and sequenced. They found viruses that had not been circulating in people: H1N2/H1g2. The team emailed sequencing results to the CDC to create a vaccine. This rapid response and action is an example of why the team is mobile. MIRA is CDC’s Flu/SC2 Assembly and QC pipeline. The team has facilitated international training workshops with lectures, testing actual samples, and generating data. Participants obtain sequencing kits with primers, polymerases, and a MinION. Seven regional trainings have taken place, reaching 136 participants from 84 countries! The training program is empowering participants to build their own surveillance systems. Keller ended by sharing that there are postdoc positions in their program!
