About This Project

Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a race against time. Culture-based methods can take almost 8 weeks to reveal drug resistance. What if we could get answers sooner? ActiWGS TB asks: Can we recover enough DNA from blood spiked with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), a safer TB model, for reliable whole-genome sequencing (reading bacterial DNA) without culture? We believe we can. We'll measure completeness and reliability, working toward 72-hour resistance results to ensure better patient outcomes.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

TB doesn't wait, but testing often does. In 2024, 10.7 million people developed tuberculosis (TB) worldwide, according to WHO. Growing TB bacteria to see which medicines will work can take weeks, delaying care. Reading the TB genome (its full DNA instructions) could give answers sooner, but blood often contains too little bacterial DNA.

Here's the missing link: researchers have shown that bacteriophages, viruses that target bacteria, can help release bacterial DNA from blood. Others have read TB genomes from sputum (mucus coughed up from the lungs) without growing bacteria. Could we read a TB genome from blood?

We expect to recover enough DNA to read the genome reliably without growing bacteria. ActiWGS TB will test prepared blood containing Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), a safer TB model, and check how complete and consistent the results are. This is a first step toward detecting drug resistance within 72 hours, pending testing in patients.

What is the significance of this project?

What if we could read TB’s genetic blueprint without waiting weeks to grow the bacteria? Before that becomes possible, we must answer a crucial question: can phage-based extraction recover enough DNA for reliable whole-genome sequencing?

Recent research highlights DNA preparation as a major challenge. ActiWGS TB will test this approach using laboratory-prepared blood containing BCG, a safe TB model.

We will measure genome completeness, sequencing quality and reproducibility, identifying where the approach succeeds or not.

Why does this matter? Our findings will determine whether this technology is ready for further development and patient-sample studies, or needs improvement first. Even negative results will reveal important limitations.

Our ultimate goal: A TB drug-resistance profile directly from blood within 72 hours, without relying on expensive, centralised laboratories. Faster answers, earlier treatment decisions, and better patient outcomes, even in resource-limited settings.

What are the goals of the project?

ActiWGS TB will assess whether DNA recovered through a phage-based extraction approach can support whole-genome sequencing. Our initial study will use an attenuated BCG research model rather than patient samples, with specialist work provided through separately arranged partner-laboratory support. The crowdfunding budget will purchase 50 extraction kits, two sequencing library-preparation kits, two flow cells and essential consumables. We will assess whether the resulting data can be assigned to the expected genome, examine how much of that genome is represented, and document the quality and consistency of the results. Appropriate controls and repeat assessments will help us interpret the evidence. We aim to complete this first stage within three months of receiving funding, subject to procurement and laboratory access. Our deliverable is a concise feasibility report describing the results, limitations and priorities for further work; clinical validation will require separate funding.