Michigan Tech's Genomic Sequencing Lab, part of the University's Health Research Institute, plays a leading role in tracking animal-borne illnesses in the Upper Peninsula region while also advancing multiple, varied areas of research.
To the novice eye, some of the equipment in the Genomic Sequencing Lab at Michigan Technological University resembles futuristic kitchen appliances. But these aren't air fryers or microwave ovens, and what's cooking isn't destined for a dinner plate. Local ticks, ice-dwelling Arctic bacteria, Isle Royale moose poop and lagoon wastewater from Copper Harbor have all been analyzed in the lab. As the facility extends its capacity, the hope is that additional impactful research collaborations will soon be on the menu.
The lab initially got its start during the COVID pandemic, when the need for community testing, contact tracing and data tracking was paramount. During that time, national health officials discovered a huge gap in the availability of genomic sequencing, especially in rural areas. To address the lack, states received and distributed funding to help design and build sequencing centers. Michigan Tech received $4.3 million of an $18.5 million federal grant awarded to four of Michigan's public universities to collect and analyze genomic data as a means to identify emerging infectious disease threats statewide in order to better respond to them.
Genomic Sequencing in a Nutshell
Like a cookbook for all living things, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) contains distinct and individual recipes for developing and directing nearly all individual living organisms. A genome is the complete set of DNA instructions for an organism. In genomic sequencing, raw DNA is extracted from a cell and cut into smaller pieces, called strands. Heating, or denaturation, is used to separate the strands as part of the process.
Every DNA strand has just four ingredients: chemical units called nucleotide bases. Adenine is expressed as A, thymine is T, guanine is G, and cytosine is C. C always pairs with G and A with T. The order of the letters, expressed in millions of base pairs as determined through sequencing, offers a veritable buffet of useful information. Sequencing can determine if markers for diseases like cancer are present and how infectious diseases are mutating. It can be used to tailor individual treatments for patients, track the source of contamination for food-borne illnesses, and identify existing and new species.
Viruses, composed of ribonucleic acid, or RNA, can also be sequenced. Tech's lab offers both DNA and RNA extraction, sequencing, and library preparation that compiles the totality of the genetic material.
While funding for the lab was prompted by the need for sequencing facilities in response to the pandemic, its mission didn't cease when the urgent demand for COVID tracing and testing was over.
Michigan Tech's lab, situated in the University's Health Research Institute, quickly pivoted to address the ongoing and growing need to track zoonotic diseases, which are infectious diseases that can spread from animals to humans through viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites.
Local Response to a Growing National Concern
Enter Tick Talk, Michigan Tech's crowd-sourced tick collection effort, complete with a public dashboard showing data including tick locations, species and identified disease carriers.
"That project was hugely successful," said Aimee Marceau, research scientist for Michigan Tech's Health Research Institute and Genomic Sequencing Lab lead. "Everyone I talk to about it was so excited about it."
Copper Country residents are still calling to see where they can drop off their ticks, even though the program wrapped up in summer 2024.
Given the 168% increase in Lyme disease cases statewide from 2020-24, as reported by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, it isn't surprising that ticks remain top of mind in the Keweenaw Peninsula and throughout the Great Lakes State. There's also a nationwide uptick in reported cases, including a spike in emergency room visits.
Tick-borne illnesses are rising along with average global temperatures. Warmer weather enables the blood-sucking arachnids to migrate north. Humans are also ranging farther afield, venturing with their pets into untouched natural landscapes where ticks abound. Conversely, whitetail deer, a popular tick host, are co-existing with people in urban and suburban settings as their habitat is diminished.
The tick project demonstrates the interplay of complexity and simplicity inherent in genomic sequencing. Ticks were dropped off in collection boxes on campus, then sorted. Marceau said the lab prioritized black-legged ticks because they're more likely to transmit the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. "And then we grind them up, extract their genetic material, and test them for a variety of different diseases that are possible, primarily the bacterial species that cause Lyme disease and anaplasmosis. All of the equipment we have here enables us to do that and more," said Marceau.
Discoveries Range from Wildlife Conservation to US Defense Projects
Researchers across campus were involved in establishing the initial genomic sequencing project, which required expertise in mathematical sciences, computer science, applied computing, medical laboratory science, biological sciences, kinesiology and integrative physiology, and environmental science.
The lab continues to serve as a campus hub for research across disciplines.
Other projects include studies conducted by wildlife conservation geneticist Kristin Brzeski. An associate professor in the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences, she uses scat, including moose, deer, bear and coyote poop, to identify animal diets. Known as diet metabarcoding, the use of low-copy genetic material is a non-invasive way to precisely determine feeding habits. Studies like this expand the contribution of citizen scientists, just like Tick Talk did, and are valuable for tracking patterns of forest growth, monitoring animal population health, and understanding wildlife communities.
Ice-dwelling Arctic bacteria came to the Genomic Sequencing Lab by way of Michigan Tech researchers working on the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Ice Control for cold Environments program. Environmental microbiologist Steve Techtmann and co-principal investigator Trista Vick-Majors, an assistant professor of biological sciences, are looking at both the melting and freezing capabilities of the bacteria to protect U.S. military members in frigid environments. Eventually, the research could also give them more infrastructure options through harnessing the bacteria's ice-melting and ice-making power.
Other projects that have benefited from partnering with the lab include National Science Foundation CAREER Award winner Paul Goetsch's work to understand cell identity and the molecular pathways that are activated as normal cells become cancerous. Goetsch, an assistant professor of biological sciences and Health Research Institute member, is focused on understanding cancer biology.
Department of Biological Sciences Professor Xiaoqing Tang is tackling another health issue with global impact. She collaborates with the Genomic Sequencing Lab for her research into diabetes, including identification of the microRNAs that regulate insulin production and secretion.
Ishi Keenum, assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering, is working with the lab to forward her research on antibiotic resistance in wastewater. "Ishi has a paper in revision right now showing that the bacteria that causes Lyme disease can be identified using wastewater testing. It's an offshoot of the Tick Talk project," said Marceau.
"There's so much collaboration here. The space can be used by anyone on campus," said Marceau.
Quick turnaround time is another major advantage of the lab, said Marceau. "When researchers send materials to off-site labs, a lot of times they're waiting more than a month. The huge benefit here is you have someone doing quality control here on campus. We can talk to researchers in real time and be like, 'Here's how your library looks, here's the way things are going.' Depending on how busy I am, I can make a library and have it sequencing in less than a week."
Though only recently established in 2022, the lab has made impactful contributions to the Health Research Institute's mission. The Institute is looking forward to even more exciting endeavors ahead. In addition to increased capacity for on-campus collaborations, there's exciting potential for partnerships with business and industry, including work with alumni-owned companies.
"We want more people to know what the lab can do," said Grace Schmitz, manager of Michigan Tech's Health Research Institute. "When we engage the community in something like the Tick Talk project, it's a way of both helping the community and helping us develop our understanding of disease vectors in the U.P. and the diseases that these vectors carry. This not only communicates what the state of Michigan is capable of doing but also includes people who might not be aware of the important research that's being done at Michigan Tech."
Michigan Technological University is an R1 public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan's flagship technological university offers more than 185 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
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