Latest Research

Flowchart of pathogen contamination and mitigation
June 16, 2020

Signature Science Team Authors Paper Published in “BMC Infectious Diseases”

Title: Simulating Transmission of ESKAPE Pathogens Plus C. difficile in Relevant Clinical Scenarios ABSTRACT BackgroundThe prevalence of healthcare-acquired infections (HAI) and rising levels of antimicrobial resistance places significant economic and public health burdens on modern healthcare systems. A group of highly drug resistant pathogens known as the ESKAPE pathogens, along with C. difficile, are... MORE
Scientific symbols falling from space
August 15, 2019

Next Generation Sequencing to Detect Environmental Stress

Dr. Krista Ternus presented her research at the National Environmental Monitoring Conference held August 5-9, 2019. The presentation slides are available here. Abstract: Next generation sequencing (NGS) has the potential to detect changes within microbial communities in response to specific types of stress. However, the majority of species within complex... MORE
False color image of pathogens
May 29, 2019

Validating Metagenomic Analyses Through Simulated Direct and Indirect Healthcare-Related Pathogen Transmission Events

Abstract: The prevalence of healthcare-acquired infections (HAI) places a significant economic burden on modern healthcare systems. Cultures are typically used to diagnose HAI; however, culture-dependent methods provide only limited presence/absence information and are not applicable to all pathogens. Next generation sequencing (NGS) has the potential to detect a wide variety... MORE
DNA helices with the text "STRmix Probabilistic Genotyping"
January 24, 2019

SigSci’s Austin TX DNA Forensics Laboratory Participated in an Interlab Study of STRmix™ Probabilistic Genotyping...

Title: STRmix™ collaborative exercise on DNA mixture interpretation Summary: An intra- and inter-laboratory study using the probabilistic genotyping (PG) software STRmix™ is reported. Two complex mixtures from the PROVEDIt set, analysed on an Applied Biosystems™ 3500 Series Genetic Analyzer, were selected. 174 participants responded. For Sample 1 (low template, in the... MORE
Part of a flowchart with text "Synthesis" and "Analysis"
June 23, 2012

Paper Authored by SigSci Scientists Published in Peer-Reviewed Journal “Analytical Chemistry”

Title: A Systematic Method for the Targeted Discovery of Chemical Attribution Signatures – Application to Isopropyl Bicyclophosphate Production Abstract: Potential attribution signatures for the synthesis of a highly toxic bicyclophosphate, 4-isopropyl-2,6,7-trioxa-1-phosphabicyclo[2.2.2]octane 1-oxide (Isopropyl Bicyclophosphate or IPBCP) were discovered using a trilateral synthetic, analytical, and statistical approach. Initially, five synthetic routes were... MORE