Currently, the detection of food poison outbreaks caused by bacteria takes a long time and is expensive, but this does not have to be the case in the future. Researchers from the Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen have found a method for the precise identification of bacteria in just a few hours on a mobile-phone-sized device that costs about 200 times less than alternative approaches.
A new bacterial identification method, called ON-rep-seq, examines selective, strain-specific fragments of the bacterial genome, allowing the generation of results that earlier required DNA sequencing of the entire bacterial genome or tedious approaches like pulsed field gel electrophoresis, which previously has been the golden standard for strain-level typing of microorganisms. Hence, the method has the potential to change the approach utilized for investigating food-based disease outbreaks by making analysis much less time- and cost consuming.
Currently, bacterial detection and identification based on bacterial DNA requires expensive instrumentation and many hours of work by highly trained specialists. Let’s imagine, for example, there is a suspected Salmonella outbreak. Usually in order to locate its origin, not only will investigators have to analyze many samples, but the analysis has to be precise in order to distinguish one bacterial strain from another.
“Our new method allows identification and typing of hundreds of samples in less than two hours, and we expect that this will even be reduced to “real time” in a short period of time,” says one of the researchers behind the study, Lukasz Krych, Associate Professor at the Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Method builds on a device that was used for DNA sequencing in space
The new method is based on nanopore sequencing, which is a new, real-time DNA sequencing approach “that will definitely revolutionize the future of DNA sequencing” according to Lukasz Krych.
The research project was carried out in collaboration with the polish company GenXone S.A., which helped to set up a bioinformatics pipeline that is needed to perform fast and efficient analysis of the sequencing data.
The smallest ever sequencer offered by Oxford Nanopore Technologies, called MinION, is a $999 hand-held, USB-powered device that became commercially available in 2015. A year later it was taken to the International Space Station, where it achieved the first DNA sequencing in history performed in zero-gravity conditions. Despite the indisputable revolution in DNA sequencing offered by MinION, it quickly became clear that the data generated with the device are still not perfect due to e.g. sequencing errors while the analysis remained relatively expensive to perform (app. $150 per bacterium).
Small device with fast and cheap analysis offers huge opportunities within food safety
The scientists from the Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen have found a way to utilize this technology to analyze hundreds of bacteria at a time, cutting costs to less than $2 per bacterium, while at the same time increasing the accuracy to more than 99%.
“Our method can be used both within food safety, where you can quickly find disease-causing or health-promoting bacteria, and also in the health sector, where you will be able to perform certain analyses that you are not even considering today because of the price and time-consuming nature of traditional analysis,” says another of the researchers behind the study, Post Doc Josue Leonardo Castro Mejia.
At the moment, there are several companies testing the method to implement in their systems for establishing rapid screening programmes for thousands of strains.
Learn more: Scientists identify harmful bacteria based on its DNA at a very low cost
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Food poisoning outbreaks
- 150 Guests Who Attended Different Weddings in the Same State Have Been Hospitalized With Food Poisoning
Over 100 Guests Became Violently Sick With Food Poisoning After Eating Dessert at a Wedding in Mexico Brides ...
- Saudi Arabia mandates restaurants to implement food tracking system
The move by Saudi authorities follows a recent incident that resulted in the hospitalisation of 75 individuals.
- Calls for 'best before’ dates on food packaging to be scrapped
Getting rid of 'Best Before' dates on food packaging would save the world billions a year by curbing food waste and stopping food poisoning outbreaks.
- Walnuts Recalled From Natural Food Stores After E. Coli Outbreak
The outbreak linked to shelled organic walnuts distributed by Gibson Farms has sickened 12 people and hospitalized seven in California and Washington State, federal officials said.
- Dozen people struck down by E coli outbreak after eating organic walnuts as two battle deadly disease
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) issued an urgent warning as a dozen people have been struck down with food poisoning after ingesting organic walnuts believed to be contaminated ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Food poisoning outbreaks
[google_news title=”” keyword=”food poisoning outbreaks” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Food poisoning
- Ex-Mayo Clinic doc accused of fatally poisoning wife may have...
Dr. Connor Bowman, 31, was slapped with murder charges after his wife, Betty Bowman, 32, fell seriously ill and died from organ failure in Rochester, Minnesota, on Aug. 20 after allegedly being ...
- Ferguson restaurant sues Cory Spinks’ wife after she claims food hospitalized the former boxer
FERGUSON — A restaurant here is suing the wife of a well-known St. Louis boxer after she posted about a dozen times on social media that her husband got sick with food poisoning from eating at the ...
- Two inmates dead, one critical after ‘food poisoning’ at Magazine Prison
The Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) has issued an open verdict regarding the autopsy of the two prison inmates who had allegedly died after consuming a rice parcel containing pork curry ...
- 20 suffer food poisoning after eating ‘poha’
Around 20 casual labourers and their children in Vadodara were rushed to the hospital after consuming poha and suffering from food poisoning. The incident occurred near Suryanagar polling booth in ...
- 150 Guests Who Attended Different Weddings in the Same State Have Been Hospitalized With Food Poisoning
Over 100 Guests Became Violently Sick With Food Poisoning After Eating Dessert at a Wedding in Mexico Brides ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Food poisoning
[google_news title=”” keyword=”food poisoning” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]