An international research collaboration is being extended with €300,000 in funding to investigate a blood-based sequencing approach that could help identify infection-causing pathogens in patients with sepsis more rapidly.

The GeSIC project brings together engineering researchers at Heriot-Watt University with critical care clinicians at the University Medical Center Mainz and researchers at the University of Mainz. The new funding from the Ministry of Science and Health of Rhineland-Palatinate will support the next phase of the collaboration, which is expected to begin in January.

The project is developing a rapid blood-based DNA sequencing approach designed to detect pathogens from fragments of microbial DNA circulating in a patient's blood, rather than relying solely on conventional culture methods.

An early real-world example of the approach was reported this year in BMJ Case Reports. In a patient being treated for sepsis, conventional blood cultures remained negative throughout the hospital stay, while the iSEP-SEQ research workflow identified two likely infection-causing pathogens several days before they were subsequently confirmed using cultures from other bodily fluids.

The complete analytical process took approximately six hours, whereas conventional culture methods can take between two and seven days to identify a pathogen and may produce negative results in more than 60% of suspected sepsis cases. Identifying the causative pathogen more rapidly could potentially provide additional information alongside existing diagnostic methods when cultures are delayed or inconclusive.

However, the sequencing result in the reported case was generated within a research setting and did not guide the patient's treatment. The case provides evidence of the technology's potential to identify pathogens earlier, rather than demonstrating an effect on clinical outcomes.

Sepsis is a life-threatening response to infection that can lead to shock, organ failure and death and, the researchers say, rapidly identifying the pathogen responsible remains a significant challenge in critical care.

Professor Maïwenn Kersaudy-Kerhoas, Professor in Microfluidic Engineering at Heriot-Watt University and co-academic lead of its Global Research Institute in Health and Care Technologies, said: 

“The fast identification of pathogens remains one of the most complex challenges facing healthcare systems around the world. Our iSEP-SEQ approach can accelerate the identification of any pathogen in circulation in the patient and has the potential to make a meaningful difference by enabling better patient management and correct therapeutics.”

The new phase of GeSIC will bring together the engineering and clinical teams to continue development and clinical validation of the approach. The collaboration combined Heriot-Watt's expertise in microfluidic engineering and genomic technologies with Mainz’s clinical expertise in intensive care.

The project was highlighted during a visit to Heriot-Watt's Edinburgh campus by Clemens Hoch, Minister for Science, Further Education and Health in Rhineland-Palatinate, on 2 September. His visit formed part of a wider three-day programme focused on research and healthcare collaboration between Rheinland-Pfalz and Scotland.