The JSPS Research Center Formation Project "Establishment of mNGS Diagnostic Center in Southeast Asia" started in FY2023.
Research goal
mNGS is a method to detect DNA or RNA of pathogens by comprehensive analysis of nucleic acids contained in specimens. mNGS is expected to be used as one of the standard diagnostic methods for infectious diseases in the future, as it can theoretically diagnose all pathogens with a single method and identify new pathogens and causative agents of unknown fever, which have been neglected until now. It is expected to be used as one of the standard diagnostic methods for infectious diseases in the future. However, clinical application of this method has not progressed due to the cost bottleneck of nucleic acid purification and library construction.
In this project, a low-cost library construction system will be developed at International Research Institute for Zoonosis Control, Hokkaido University, and shared with National Institute of Health, Thailand; Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University; National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Vietnam; and Evercare Hospital Dhaka, Bangladesh, to promote evaluation using clinical specimens, We aim to establish a network of mNGS diagnostic centers in Southeast Asian countries.
