Introduction

This book provides a timely and thorough snapshot into the emerging and fast evolving area of applied genomics of foodborne pathogens. Driven by the drastic advance of whole genome shot gun sequencing (WGS) technologies, genomics applications are becoming increasingly valuable and even essential in studying, surveying and controlling foodborne microbial pathogens.

Challenges in the Field

The vast opportunities brought by this trend are often at odds with the lack of bioinformatics know-how among food safety and public health professionals, since such expertise is not part of a typical food microbiology curriculum and skill set. Further complicating the challenge is the large and ever evolving body of bioinformatics tools that can obfuscate newcomers to this area.

Need for a Specialized Resource

Although reviews, tutorials and books are not in short supply in the fields of bioinformatics and genomics, until now there has not been a comprehensive and customized source of information designed for and accessible to microbiologists interested in applying cutting-edge genomics in food safety and public health research.

Book Content and Purpose

This book fills this void with a well-selected collection of topics, case studies, and bioinformatics tools contributed by experts at the forefront of foodborne pathogen genomics research.