Modular Automated Microbial Biobanking and Analysis (MAMBA) System to Enhance DoD-relevant Microbiome Research
Abstract
The emerging study of human-associated microbiomes and environmental microbial communities is poised to profoundly impact the next generation of approaches to monitor and modulate human health and diseases. Of key importance to the DoD are microbiota associated with military relevant settings and environmental disruptions such as physiological, chemical, or psychological stressors that are encountered during combat-related scenarios. The characterization of microbiota frompersonnel in these settings using genomic sequencing and functional studies with in vitro cell culture models, in vivo animal models, and human cohorts enable the detailed delineation of the mechanisms governing microbiota modulation of human performance. However, a major limitation to all microbiome studies is that individual strains of bacteria remain inaccessible for manipulation, preventing their mechanistic study. The ability to generate new microbiome reference collections, populated by individually isolated strains from specific settings or sample sources with associated whole genome sequencing data, are highly limited due to the cost and laborious manual steps performed during isolation, cultivation, and sequencing. We propose to acquire automated instrumentation to develop a fully integrated pipeline for rapid generation of live microbiome reference sets with concurrent whole-genome information to significantly advance microbiome research supported by the DoD and the Tri-Service research labs. The instrumentation, associated database, and biobanks generated through this DURIP will establish a DoD microbiome repository for targeted analysis of the contribution of the human microbiome and consequences of their perturbations during military-relevant settings
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 10, 2018
- Source ID
- N000141812237
Entities
People
- Harris H. Wang
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
- United States Navy