By Graham Cook
The new science of metagenomics is being used to test water before it reaches the tap
Scientists from Simon Fraser University have been working on a project to better the testing of water quality. The aim of the initiative, Applied Metagenomics of the Watershed Microbiome, was described by microbiology professor Fiona Brinkman in an email to The Peak as “[changing] the way we monitor water quality.”
The team plans to accomplish this by running tests at the source instead of downstream at the tap, while utilizing the new science of metagenomics, the study of genetic material that is recovered directly from environmental samples. The hope is that this will allow water pollution to be identified earlier, at its source. Brinkman noted that the pollution they are dealing with involves factors such as agricultural run-off or septic tank leakage rather than chemical pollution.
In the same email, Brinkman outlined that the three-year project began in July of 2011, but that preparation had been previously ongoing. Her main research interest, she explained, involves the creation of new procedures for controlling infectious diseases. Following work with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, she became interested in “how we could much more effectively identify and control disease-causing microbes in our water supply,” which led directly to the creation of the project.
Along with Brinkman, who acts as the director of bioinformatics, those who have worked on the project include co-principle investigators Patrick Tang and Judith Isaac-Renton, faculty member Rob Holt, graduate student Mike Peabody, and staff member Matthew Laird. In addition, there are a growing number of people joining the team as the initiative increases in size.
Brinkman claimed that their future plans include completing an analysis of both clean and contaminated watersheds over the course of a year in order to develop a new water quality test. Despite being in the early stages of the project, she added that they have already been successful in beginning to outline the “needs and wants” in a new testing system.
According to an SFU PAMR press release, the study is receiving funding from an SFU Community Trust Endowment Fund research grant along with support from not-for-profit organizations Genome B.C. and Genome Canada.
