Big Data, Machine Learning Come to Bacteriology in NIAID Group A Strep Study

NIAID has helped colleagues at Houston Methodist Hospital establish a “layered” big-data approach to analyze microbial genetic changes that can make some bacteria extremely dangerous to people. They used the Streptococcus pyogenes bacterium in the project but believe the approach will work with many bacterial pathogens, and the data produced could yield new therapeutics and vaccines. The researchers intricately analyzed more than 2,000 samples of strep isolated from patients from six countries, assessing genomics, transcriptomics and virulence. The data can guide their disease prevention efforts by helping determine whether no disease, mild disease or severe disease could result.