18 September 2024
Current food safety testing for human viruses makes use of molecular methods (i.e., polymerase chain reaction, PCR) to detect virus genetic material on fruit. One important limitation of PCR-based methods is that they detect environmental or “free” genetic materials that are not contained within intact virus particles and therefore pose no risk of causing an infection. This limitation can cause large economic losses for soft fruit growers, buyers, and sellers associated with product recalls and introduces large uncertainty into food safety management decisions. Here we propose the use of Nanotrap particles (hydrogel nanoparticles that are design to capture intact viruses) to capture only intact viruses during soft fruit testing. If successful, these Nanotraps would improve the accuracy of food safety testing by excluding free RNA from the PCR-based analysis. The proposed method can be performed using automated equipment which would greatly increase the number of fruit samples that could be tested while simultaneously decreasing the time and costs required to produce the results. The novel method proposed would deliver benefits to consumers, regulators, growers, buyers, and sellers by improving the reliability of food safety testing to detect infectious viruses and inform risk management decisions.
This work will be led by incoming student Saborni Sen. Welcome to LSU and Bivins Lab!
For more details visit: Center for Produce Safety Research Database
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