http://tiny.cc/faowgsworkshop The use of genome sequencing technology on food safety management. Presentation from the FAO expert workshop on practical applications of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) for food safety management - 7-8 December 2015, Rome, Italy.

1. NGS in food safety
Game changer or just another typing tool?
Frank M. Aarestrup
www.compare-europe.eu
www.genomicepidemiology.org

2. What the world need
• Real-time data on occurences of all infectious agents
• (Automatic) detections of related clusters in time and space
• Possibilities to observe trends in clones and species as well as
virulence and resistance
• Ability to rapidly compare between all types of data using a
common language
2 14 December 2015
There can be no real-time surveillance without real-time data sharing

3. Bacterial genomics
• Sequencing a bacterial genome cost less than
$100 (on a desk top sequencer)
• Equipment cost less than $100 000
• Already cheaper than most traditional methods
• Future limiting factor will not be sequencing but
handling the sequences

4. Current status
• +400 retrospective research publications
• A few usefull and real-life proof for:
– Outbreaks
– Source attribution
– Policy
– Diagnostics
• Need
– Standardisation, harmonisation, easy access to
informatics and exchange and protocols

5. One by one or one takes all?
• Starting with pathogen specific networks
– Will follow tradition and allow for work inside known
circles
– Will ensure that pathogen specific knowledge is included
• One technology takes all
– Will focus on the sample and not the pathogen, but is
outside normal networks
– Will require collaboration across domains

6. Local or global
Local
• Analysing my data using
my tools
• Sharing when ready
Global
• Sharing immediately into
a common database
• Analysis after sharing

7. Personal remarks
• If we do not share globally in real-time
NGS might be just another but much faster
and better methodology
• If we do share in real-time it might be a
game changer

8. This meeting
• Concrete issues related to NGS in
regulatory science
• Current and future role of the international
organizations
• Lets help each other to focus on the
purpose and not get lost in technology