Two out of three Members of the Program Committee are also members of GMI, and a presentation about the GMI was given by Frank Aarestrup in Session 1. It seemed clear that both the food safety and the health sector are now embracing NGS, and epidemiologists are joining the discussions about its potential. A number of interesting presentations suggested novel (for some) areas of NGS use, including forensic microbiology and issues related to genomics as the future driver of taxonomy.
A short presentation on metagenomic analysis of wastewater as potential basis for monitoring for viral pathogens was one of many new, interesting angles; and interestingly, Paul Keim in one of his presentations had the following (maybe a bit provocative statement: ‘No Culture – No Problem’), no doubt referring to the concern of some of how to proceed in a future where there will be fewer isolates in the freezers.
Contact: Professor Jørgen Schlundt jschlundt@ntu.edu.sg