BGI devoted to resolve Epidemic Intestinal Hemorrhage E. Coli bacterium (EHEC)

An outbreak of Enterohemorrhagic E. Coli, also known as resistant E.Coli bacteria, is spreading in Germany and Europe. The Medical College of Hamburg University, that threats many of the infected patients, has taken the lead in the developing of a new antibiotic against the resistant bacteria and has asked the biotechnology company BGI Europe to take the first step. BGI in Copenhagen immediately responded and gratuitously made a team of researchers available to sequence and analyze the EHEC-bacteria to determine the DNA of it. BGI is devoted to find out the cause of EHEC bacterium infection and to generate effective measures to help patients.

BGI has previous experience in working with epidemic diseases. In 2003, during the SARS epidemic, BGI volunteered to join the anti-SARS research and within only 4 days, it completed the research on SARS virus genome analysis, protein analysis, developed diagnostic test kit and studied anti-SARS drugs.

According to statistics provided by the German Department of Health on May 24th, at least 300 known infected patients have been reported, predominantly female and the number continues to rise. Also in countries like Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK EHEC infections are suspected. The common symptoms observed are abdominal pain, diarrhea which can progress to bloody diarrhea and some patients can develop kidney failure. A serious concern is that the treatment with antibiotics remains ineffective against this epidemic disease. With the increasing number of people infected, it is urgent to find solution to this disease.

BGI (formerly known as Beijing Genomics Institute) was founded in 1999 and has since become the largest genomic organization in the world. With a focus on research and applications in the healthcare, agriculture, conservation and bio-energy fields, BGI has a proven track record of innovative, high-profile research which has generated over 178 publications in top-tier journals such as Nature and Science. BGI’s distinguished achievements have made a great contribution to the development of genomics in both China and the world. Their goal is to make leading-edge genomics highly accessible to the global research community by leveraging industry’s best technology, economies of scale and expert bioinformatics resources. BGI and its affiliates, BGI Americas and BGI Europe, have established partnerships and collaborations with leading academic and government research institutions, as well as global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. BGI have built the infrastructure and scientific expertise to enable  quickly migration from samples to discovery. (bgisequence)