The increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria has highlighted the need to target infections with the correct drug. A recent paper ‘Rapid antibiotic resistance predictions from genome sequence data for S. aureus and M. tuberculosis’, by P Bradley, et al. Nature Communications, 21 December 2015 DOI describes a program to identify species and resistance profiles of clinical isolates.

The Mykrobe predictor is designed for use by microbiologists and doctors, providing information needed in order to choose the best treatment. It analyses the whole genome of a bacterial sample, all within a couple of minutes, and predicts which drugs the infection is resistant to. No expertise is needed to run or interpret it, and it works on a standard desktop or laptop.

Supports Illumina sequencing data as standard. Antibiotics supported: Beta-lactams (methicillin, penicillin), quinolones (ciprofloxacin), macrolides/lincosamides (erythromycin, clindamycin), tetracycline, aminoglycosides (gentamicin), glycopeptides (vancomycin), rifampicin, mupirocin, fusidic acid, trimethoprim.

The software is available for download from the Mykrobe website.