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Scientists from the Madagascar National TB Program, Institute Pasteur Madagascar, University of Oxford, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and Stony Brook University are collaborating to train Malagasy scientists to rapidly detect tuberculosis (TB) and drug-resistance using DNA sequencing. The goal of the project is to improve diagnosis and treatment, and will provide insights on disease transmission.

Landscape in Madagascar

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Scientists in Madagascar have for the first time performed DNA sequencing in-country using portable technology to rapidly identify the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis (TB) and its drug resistance profile. The project, led by an ambitious, global team of doctors and scientists from Madagascar’s National TB Program, Institute Pasteur Madagascar (IPM), University of Oxford, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and Stony Brook University, is seeking to transform the surveillance, diagnosis and treatment of TB and other infectious diseases in Madagascar. The researchers used the portable, affordable MinION sequencing device, developed by Oxford spin-out company Oxford Nanopore Technologies. 

Find out more (University of Oxford website)