Methods and compositions for determining the pathogenic status of infectious agents
AssigneeSequella, Inc.
InventorsMatthew C. Mulvey, Leo Einck, Katherine Sacksteder
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Abstract
The present invention relates to methods and compositions for improved detection of infectious agents and microbes. In particular, the present invention provides novel methods for detecting infectious agents, providing information about the viability status of such infectious agents and for determining drug susceptibility. In certain embodiments, the present invention employs techniques involving nucleic acid amplification-based microbial identification together with phage-based biological detection of drug resistance. The methods of the invention are suitable for all microbes and infectious agents, including bacterial agents such as Mycobacteria.
Claims27
A vector encoding a surrogate marker locus (SML) generation module comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide or a catalytic nucleic acid and a source nucleic acid sequence from which the polypeptide or catlytic nucleic acid generates a distinct surrogate marker locus de novo.
A method for creating a surrogate marker locus (SML) in a cell comprising
- introducing into the cell a SML generation module, wherein the SML generation module encodes a nucleic acid or nucleotide modifying function, wherein expression of the nucleic acid or nucleotide modifying function generates de novo, a distinct SML from a source nucleic acid sequence;
- and
- detecting the SML.
A method of determining the viability of a microbe comprising:
- introducing a SML generation module to the microbe, wherein the SML generation module comprises a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide or a catalytic nucleic acid, wherein expression of the polypeptide or catalytic nucleic acid generates, de nov,o a distinct SML from a source nucleic acid sequence;
- and
- detecting generation of the SML, wherein detection of the surrogate marker locus indicates that the infectious agent is viable.
A method for determining the suceptiblity of a microbe to a drug comprising:
- exposing a test sample to a drug composition;
- incubating the test sample with a SML generation module, wherein the SML generation module comprises a nucleic acid sequence encoding a catalytic nucleic acid, wherein expression the catalytic nucleic acid generates a SML, and
- detecting the presence of the SML, wherein detection of the SML indicates the microbe is resistant to drug composition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.