REDI-NET Launch Brings New Line of Defense Against Emerging Diseases
Database tracks emerging pathogens using metagenomic approach
By Jenifer Fouch – Dec. 3, 2024
TRAP TRICK — Rashid Lebunge sets a trap in Kenya using carbon dioxide to lure host-seeking ticks. The work is part of REDI-NET, a Department of Defense project to improve infectious disease research. (Photo courtesy Cameron Osborne)
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Researchers with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station helped develop an early warning system for the military to help identify the next contagion.
Imagine a researcher in a lab in Kenya testing a water sample, looking at microorganisms under a microscope, inputting information into a computer, and comparing that data with information entered by a military base lab in the United States.
These scientists are linked by a digital platform, analyzing data in real-time with one common mission — identifying the next public health threat.
It sounds like something out of a movie, but beginning this month, REDI-NET, or Remote Emerging Disease Intelligence Network, launches in labs serving the Department of Defense, particularly the Army and the Navy, all around the world.
“This is something that infectious disease researchers have recognized for a long time, that we need a better way to figure out what can cause problems before it starts causing problems,” said Emily McDermott, co-principal investigator of REDI-NET. She is also an assistant professor of medical and veterinary entomology and a researcher for the experiment station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
This digital platform will serve as early warning, McDermott said, helping researchers test and identify potential new pathogens that might be hidden in animals or water and try to stop them before they become a human disease, threatening military personnel in the field and civilians.
Similar to how meteorologists can watch for threats of a hurricane or a tornado before they arrive using computer models, REDI-NET will allow scientists to track and identify potential new diseases based on DNA data.
Researchers at the University of Notre Dame are leading the development of REDI-NET with the help of several other national and international organizations. McDermott and her team developed the standard operating procedures for the platform — step-by-step directions on how samples should be collected, tested and recorded. Now, labs will put these procedures into practice and provide feedback on how they translate to their labs.
“Our objective for this coming year is to engage with at least three of our geographic combatant commands across the globe to get users on board with our operating procedures, dashboard and pipeline,” McDermott said. “We will receive their input and adjust to make it as useful as possible for them.”
The Defense Department has 11 combatant commands, each with a geographical or functional mission.
Developing standard operating procedures
Diseases that can spread between wild or domesticated animals to humans are known as zoonotic diseases. They are often transmitted by vectors — organisms like ticks, for example.
McDermott’s team developed standard operating procedures for collecting DNA samples from different animals and vectors, including cattle, deer, and poultry.
“We have step-by-step guides for everything, from going out into the field and collecting water samples or collecting ticks off cows, how you label that data, how you store those samples. And then how you process it — grinding up ticks, filtering water, extracting DNA, sequencing,” McDermott said. “This is something we have tested, and we know this will work for these sample types.”
Arkansas provides an ideal environment for this type of research because of its rich diversity of both livestock and wildlife that interact with each other and with humans. For example, McDermott’s research has shown that the lone star tick, when collected from cattle, are frequently infected with human pathogens.
The metagenomic approach
McDermott says the information provided within REDI-NET gives researchers and end-users new details thanks to the team’s metagenomic approach. This method extracts all the DNA from a sample to analyze genetic material from all organisms present, alive or not, and identify potential pathogens and diseases.
McDermott says this technique is particularly useful when the sample contains many different species, such as a mix of bacteria, viruses, fungi, or other microorganisms.
The extracted DNA is then sequenced to generate data representing the entire collection of genes in the sample, called a metagenome. Using bioinformatics, a discipline that relies on computer technology to evaluate biological data, scientists can analyze this genetic data to identify which species are present and what functions their genes might have.
“We can match all of that up with what we know, and we can say, ‘OK, these sequences match to Zika, or these match to cholera.’ Sometimes these sequences are similar but they’re not an exact match. And some of those clues might trigger us into saying ‘this may be a new virus,’ for example,” McDermott explained.
RESEARCH — Emily McDermott, an assistant professor in the department of entomology and plant pathology, is the co-principal investigator of REDI-NET. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo)
Military labs in global pathogen surveillance
McDermott says the primary stakeholders are the Army and Navy’s forward-facing research laboratories worldwide, including the Parris Island Marine Corps Depot, for example, or labs in locations such as Kenya and Peru, as well as military hospitals in Guam and training centers around the globe.
“They’re conducting environmental pathogen surveillance in various locations and want to understand what pathogens are present there,” she said.
Some of these standard operating procedures are available for public access.
McDermott said this database is something researchers have long recognized as necessary for public health. Now that it’s being implemented and placed in the hands of daily users, she is confident that her research has laid a strong foundation for pathogen surveillance and hopes support will continue offering scientists a resource to detect organisms and interactions that traditional methods may have overlooked in the past.
“We built this incredible tool, so we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to show the value of the REDI-NET and maintain that level of funding so that we can continue to provide scientific support,” she said.
The network in REDI-NET
The REDI-NET research is being funded by the Department of Defense. It is led by principal investigator Nicole Achee, an associate professor at the Eck Institute for Global Health at the University of Notre Dame.
In her lab, McDermott counted on the help of Cameron Osborne, a postdoctoral fellow, and Anna Grace Deakins, a research assistant in the entomology and plant pathology department.
Other REDI-NET partners include the Belize Vector & Ecology Center, the Center for Research Computing at the University of Notre Dame, the Naval Medical Research Command, the Navy Entomology Center of Excellence, the Naval Health Research Center, the Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit, the Smithsonian Institution and the Mpala Research Centre, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, the University of Florida and Vectech.
Disclaimer: This work is supported by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command under Contract No. W81XWH-21-C-0001, W81XWH-22-C-0093 and HT9425-23-C-0059. The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report are those of the author(s) and should not be construed as an official Department of the Army or Navy position, policy or decision unless so designated by other documentation.
To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on 𝕏 at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on 𝕏 at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
RESEARCH — Emily McDermott, an assistant professor in the department of entomology and plant pathology, is the co-principal investigator of REDI-NET. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo)
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