Chongqing- The first gene sequencing platform of Chongqing Municipality in southwestern China in the field of pathogenic microorganisms -- the high-throughput third-generation sequencing research center of pathogenic microorganisms has officially started its construction.

Humans have genomes, where pathogenic microorganisms have genomes too. Knowing their genetic code can quickly provide an accurate diagnosis. This is the third-generation sequencing technology.

Many types of pathogens can cause infectious diseases, and their symptoms are also different. When facing some difficult, complex, and critical infections, it is often difficult to obtain accurate and comprehensive pathogen information in a short period of time using traditional pathogen detection methods.

"Traditional pathogen detection is usually operated by pathogenic methods such as sampling and culturing microscopy, or immunological methods,” said Professor Hu Peng, deputy dean of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University and a member of Chongqing New Coronary Pneumonia Expert Group. The molecular biology method detection has become popular in recent years, where the genetic sequencing of pathogens has been carried out.

Third-generation sequencing technologies have the capability to produce substantially longer reads, which have critical implications for both genome science and the study of biology, said Professor Hu. Specifically, they will help to increase the quality of genome assemblies strongly.

“The average read length of the third-generation sequencing is dozens of times that of the second-generation sequencing,” said the relevant person in charge of Chongqing Precision Medical. “Third-generation sequencing technologies can obtain relatively complete gene sequence information, where the analyzable content of gene sequence will be more informative.”

More importantly, Third-generation sequencing technologies can also detect drug-resistant genes. This allows clinicians to combine pathogens and drug resistance and use drugs in a targeted and effective manner.

The third-generation sequencing technology will continue to carry out a number of scientific research cooperation in a few months. Through cooperation on pathogen identification, drug resistance, and virulence of different types of infectious diseases, the clinical application of third-generation sequencing technologies will be promoted to benefit more patients in the future.

(Wang Yaomin, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)