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David Needle has 900 samples of moose poop.听

鈥淎s one does,鈥� quips the senior veterinary pathologist at UNH鈥檚 .听

Those stinky artifacts can reveal what moose ate, whether they鈥檙e pregnant, how healthy or stressed they are 鈥� all important data points to help us understand and protect this iconic Northern New England species. But accessing that听data takes sophisticated laboratory equipment that can run polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests to get an up-close look at DNA sequences. Fortunately for Needle and his collaborators, UNH has just that equipment.听

Thanks, COVID.听

As the coronavirus pandemic faded to background noise, UNH paused its lauded testing program after testing two million samples for UNH and听institutions across the state. But Yankee frugality wouldn鈥檛 let the university waste a crisis, so in 2023, the expertise and equipment the university amassed to keep the campus safe from disease found new life as the , or CoCo Lab.听

鈥淲e wanted to leverage all that infrastructure we had built into something that could be sustainable going forward,鈥� says lab director Jeff Lapak.听

As a shared facility available to the entire university, the CoCo Lab saves researchers precious grant dollars. And because the polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, testing services and related equipment are so advanced, the lab maximizes those dollars, processing up to 10 times the number of samples for the same money.听

鈥淥nce you have a protocol and method you want, we can scale it up,鈥� says Seth Goodnight, who manages the lab with Erin MacDonald. 鈥淲e can automate the heck out of it.鈥澨�

Lapak adds that because the lab was built to comply with the strictest medical diagnostic standards,听it produces a high level of reliability. 鈥淚 cannot understate how powerful that is for the science,鈥� he says, noting the procedures鈥� rigorous control and consistency.听

The COVID lab significantly improved sequencing capacity at UNH, says Kelley Thomas, director of UNH鈥檚 and the COVID lab鈥檚 scientific director. The Genome Center maintains a close partnership with the CoCo Lab, with each facility complementing and amplifying the others鈥� capacity. The CoCo Lab, says Thomas, 鈥渋s acting as a front end to a lot of the projects that we[the Genome Center] can take on now because we have that capacity to sequence large numbers of samples.鈥澨�

The transition from COVID lab to CoCo lab builds on UNH鈥檚 strength in environmental genomics, embodying what Thomas calls a 鈥渙ne health strategy.鈥澨�

鈥淗uman health is closely tied to environmental听health, agricultural health, food security,鈥� he explains. Identifying contaminants or algal blooms in the watershed, for example, can keep the water wedrink safe. And anyone who鈥檚 spent time outdoors in New Hampshire, where Lyme disease increased 552% between 2002 and 2019, can understand the human health implications of surveying for tick- borne diseases. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 all done with genomics, and it鈥檚 done by efficiently sequencing large numbers of samples,鈥� Thomas says.听

鈥淲e wanted to leverage all that infrastructure we had built into something that could be sustainable going forward."

Needle is applying the same technology that tells him what moose had for breakfast to learn what type of ticks are feasting on our wildlife (he estimates听he has 3,000 samples of black-legged, winter and Lone Star ticks) and to dive deeper into the听canine infectious respiratory disease complex that鈥檚 sickened thousands of dogs across the country.听

Needle and the Genome Center first identified the bacterium pathogen behind the disease more than a year ago.听

Research assistant professor Alison Watts accesses the CoCo Lab to extract environmental DNA, or eDNA, to monitor estuaries around the country, from Great Bay just miles from campus to Florida, Oregon and even Hawaii. 鈥淭hrough genomics we can track the biodiversity of estuaries and detect the presence of invasive species who may upset the fragile balance of these ecosystems,鈥� she says.听

The lab is also working on bringing UNH Extension鈥檚 soil testing and tick identification and testing services, currently sent out of state, in house.听

And while the CoCo Lab is a rich resource for UNH scientists and teaching tool for students, a growing number of outside researchers are using it to solve their problems. NH Lakes sends the lab samples to help them monitor the state鈥檚 nearly 1,000 lakes for invasive plant species like milfoil. The lab has helped the Georgia Aquarium identify skin lesions on sharks, and the National Parks have inquired about accessing the lab鈥檚 eDNA services.听

With COVID barely in the rear-view mirror, no one wants to think about the next major human disease outbreak or pandemic. But these scientists are.听

Zoonotic diseases 鈥� those that spread from animals to humans, such as the current avian influenza 鈥� are a leading health concern. 鈥淭he way that we understand how they spread and how they cause disease is genomics,鈥� says Thomas. And when 鈥� not 鈥渋f,鈥� say Thomas, Needle and overwhelming scientific consensus 鈥� the next pandemic strikes, the CoCo Lab will ensure UNH is more prepared than ever to meet the challenge.听