Republic of Mauritius- MRC research determines computational methods to understand evolution of infectious diseases

The aim of this project is to demonstrate the possibility of integrating data from publicly-accessible databases through the development of an Infectious Disease Evolutionary Analysis System which provides appropriate tools for researchers in the area of microbial genomics, to perform an intensive computational and evolutionary analysis of existing and newly-sequenced infectious-causing pathogens.

According to the study, there has been an exponential rise in the number of whole genome sequences in public databases. The Next Generation Sequencing has made it possible to provide whole genome sequences of microbial organisms in limited time, and with minimal cost. Computational comparative genomics has therefore become necessary so as to sequence organisms every day.

Moreover, infectious disease is a fundamental impediment to economic development and human health in Africa and in the Indian Ocean region as they continue to attack crops, livestock and people and in turn cause starvation, illness and death. In view to analyse various diseases, and target necessary drugs, it is very important to know the functions of all the coding features in pathogenic genomes. To that effect, a web-based frontend application has been developed for interacting with the integrated data.

Several facilities are also provided for interfacing with the sequences. They include: similarity searches using BLAST, calculate the evolutionary rate of genes, genomic island identification, text-mining component to search for specific genes and, identification of polymorphic genes as well as highly-conserved genes.

Unsolicited Research and Innovation Grant Scheme

The URIGS is a bottom-up approach to the promotion and exploitation of research, whereby the MRC invites researchers and research institutions to submit proposals. Multi-disciplinary proposals and inter-institutional or inter-departmental collaboration are particularly encouraged, based on their potential research value and strategic importance.