ChromaCode this week launched its first product, a research-use-only test for nine tick-borne pathogens designed for research use on any thermal cycler.
The researchers are using mass spectrometry to look in patient blood samples for peptides shed by Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
Using more than 16,000 tick samples submitted by individuals in the mainland US and Puerto Rico, researchers documented tick species and infection by four pathogens.
The CDC says that the number of people in the US who have been infected with diseases carried by mosquitoes, ticks, and flea bites have more than tripled in recent years.
Investigators retraced features contributing to Lyme disease spread by sequencing 146 Borrelia burgdorferi isolates collected in North America since the 1980s.
The funds, which the company said are part of a larger $9 million Series A round, will support the development of its test for early diagnosis of Lyme disease.
There's increasing genetic evidence that a number of ancient hominins may have contributed to the human gene pool, according to Discover's The Crux blog.
