On average, 21 people die each day waiting for a transplant and one donor can save 8 lives. Donors that test positive for MDROs (multi-drug resistant organisms), such as Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), create a conundrum. The CDC reports a case study where a MRSA infected donor, despite being treated with antibiotics and cleared for MRSA infection prior to organ transplantation, was able to transmit MRSA to transplant recipients. Researchers at the CDC used Illumina sequencing technology to track the MRSA infection back to the donor. Scientists have identified Teixobactin, a new antibiotic effective in targeting MDROs. It is crucial to make sure that donors do not transmit infections during transplantation as the recipient is immunosuppressed and even infection by a small number of microbes can be fatal. Sequencing is helping us better identify antibiotics against MDROs and track donor-derived infections. For more information on applications of Illumina technology in the field of Metagenomics and Genomics, please visit us at Illumina: Microbial Genomics http://www.illumina.com/applications/microbiology.ilmn and Genomics http://www.illumina.com/applications/sequencing/dna_sequencing.ilmn Products: HiSeq: http://www.illumina.com/systems/hiseq_2500_1500.ilmn MiSeq: http://www.illumina.com/systems/miseq.ilmn Publication Links: PMID: 19543202 | Rankinen T., et al (2010): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19543202 PMID: 24670791 | Evans C.C., et al (2014): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24670791 Publication Research Reviews: http://www.illumina.com/science/publications/publications-review.ilmn The Science Mondays (SciMon) series is brought to you by Illumina http://www.illumina.com/ Illumina hosts Swati Kadam, Ph.D., Scientific Liaison, Scientific Affairs and Jacques Retief, Associate Director Scientific Affairs deliver 5 minutes of scientific enlightenment on the latest discoveries.