Cell Global Microbiome Research Discovers Thousands of New Species, Maps Urban Antimicrobial Resistance

New York (May 26, 2021) - Approximately 12,000 bacteria and viruses were sampled and collected from public transportation systems and hospitals around the world.

The study was published in the journal Cell on May 26.

This field of research is of great significance for discovering outbreaks of known and unknown infections and studying the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms in different urban environments

"Every time you sit down in the subway, you are likely to commute with a whole new species," said senior author Dr.

The current study found 10928 kinds of viruses and 748 kinds of bacteria, none of them appeared in any reference database

Dr.

By collecting samples of microorganisms and analyzing their genes—collectively called the microbiome—researchers hope to learn more about the bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms that live among humans

Antimicrobial resistance remains a major global health challenge

In addition, understanding the small molecules and proteins produced by microorganisms may also lead to the discovery of new antibiotics and other molecules that have the potential to develop into drugs

Dr.

A microbiome contains the molecular echoes of the place where it was collected

Drs

Today, MetaSUB continues to develop and has expanded to collect RNA and DNA samples from air, water and sewage, as well as hard surfaces

The organization also oversees projects such as the Global Urban Sampling Day (gCSD) held on June 21 each year, and conducted extensive research, including a comprehensive microbiological analysis of Rio de Janeiro before, during and after the 2016 Summer Olympics

"When we started in 2015, the alliance consisted of 16 cities; 6 years later, we had more than 100 cities

"Although the samples were collected from all over the world, most of the analysis was done at the Weill Cornell School of Medicine in New York City," Dr.

The DNA isolation of the samples was mainly carried out with the support of Zymo Research and Promega, and was sequenced in collaboration with Dr.
Shawn Levy of the HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology, Dr.
Klas Udekwu of Stockholm University, and the New York Genome Center
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Future and ongoing research will focus on RNA and DNA long-reading and space imaging methods, as well as tracking generations from global sites, and continue to update planetary-scale genetic maps
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