PATHFINDER

Rapid and Reliable Detection of Foodborne Pathogens by Employing Multiplexing Biosensor Technology

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Pathfinder is a important research project focused on development of innovative means of detecting important pathogenic organisms associated with food poisoning. This will be achieved using biosensor technology capable of detecting many different pathogens simultaneously. To achieve the main goal the Marie Curie Fellow, Dr. Nitsara Karoonuthaisiri from Thailand will bring her skills in microarrays and pathogen detection and lead a team of scientists at the Host Institute at Queen’s University Belfast. The Fellow will work closely with the Institute Director, Professor Chris Elliott, an eminent European researcher in the field of advanced diagnostics on this two year project at the host institution followed by one year return phase. The outcomes of this research will be extremely important to Europe as food poisoning affects many millions of citizens each year and improved diagnostics has been identified as one of the key topics requiring more research activity. Dr. Karoonuthaisiri has been motivated to apply for this prestigious Fellowship to work in a European centre of excellence to enable transfer of her skills & knowledge to an EU research team.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Researchers are improving food safety and health by developing a biological method to detect bacterial cells in contaminated food.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Detecting food-borne pathogens rapidly, reliably and early in the supply chain is essential for food industries to prevent spoilage and food poisoning. Current standard bacterial detection methods may take several days to reveal the presence of a pathogen, making it difficult to avoid an outbreak.

To improve pathogen detection, the EU-funded PATHFINDER (Rapid and reliable detection of foodborne pathogens by employing multiplexing biosensor technology) project developed a way to identify low concentrations of multiple bacterial species in food.

To do this, PATHFINDER used biosensors that recognise bacteria specifically, triggering a detectable signal. An example of a biosensor is an assay that employs an antibody that specifically recognises and binds to a bacterium, much as it would in a person's immune system.

Using three common food-borne pathogens as a model, researchers tested whether different biosensors could simultaneously detect multiple bacterial species. To simulate contamination of food, they inoculated cooked and raw chicken-based meals with varying concentrations of the food-poisoning bacteria Salmonella, Listeria and Campylobacter.

After allowing the bacteria to grow, researchers tested the sensitivity of different detection methods. The best one, in which tiny polystyrene beads were coated with different bacteria-capturing antibodies, identified food inoculated with just a single bacterial cell after short periods of increasing bacteria numbers.

PATHFINDER's rapid, accurate and economical method for detecting bacterial contamination in the food chain will reduce costs for the food industry while improving public health.