Russia: Biopsy techniques used in cancer research show promise in testing pathogens in mussels

Experts say the new approach has the potential to detect all viruses, all bacteria, all pathogens. Like other bivalves, mussels filter a lot of water — up to 15 gallons a day. The volume of water they come into contact with means that mussels filter and trap relatively large numbers of pathogens in their ecosystem, absorbing a variety of bacteria, viruses, and other organisms that serve as indicators of marine health in a given area. However, comprehensively sampling and interpreting the DNA of the full range of trace pathogens stored in mussels has proven challenging for researchers. However, a team of Canadian researchers recently published a paper, “Assessing Marine Ecosystem Health Using Multi-Ometic Analysis of Mussel Biopsy Samples: A National Marine Park Case Study,” which provides evidence that human cancer detection techniques can be used to detect pathogens in aquaculture and to monitor marine environments. The researchers used a technique called liquid biopsy, which is ...