According to a report on high throughput DNA sequencing technology, to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, the technique successfully identified arenavirus lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) as the killer of three organ transplant patients in Australia in April 2005. The kidney and liver were from an American donor infected with the virus.
Australian doctors failed to detect the cause of the deaths despite extensive diagnostic testing, but it was uncovered later by the new technology. Medical investigators used the rapid sequencing technology established by 454 Life Sciences and bioinformatics algorithms, which was developed at Columbia University. The medical investigators found LCMV genes in the tissue and blood samples from the donor and recipients.
Lipkin, a professor of epidemiology, neurology and pathology at CU and director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at the university's Mailman School of Public Health, said the technology is "a powerful tool for pathogen surveillance and discovery" and "will enhance the safety of transplantation."
