STTR Phase I: Engineered Bacteriophage Based Biosensor for Rapid Detection of Viable Foodborne Pathogens

这一小型企业技术转让第一阶段项目证明了开发一种创新的生物传感器系统的可行性，以快速和灵敏地检测可存活的食源性病原体。该系统的核心技术是将基因工程材料作为细胞活力报告、信号放大器和检测标记引入专有生物传感器平台，该平台已显示出对食品病原体的高捕获效率。选择大肠杆菌K12作为O157：H7的非致病模型进行一期可行性研究。第二阶段的研究将扩大到在现实世界的食品样本中检测活的病原体。总而言之，将开发一种商业原型，允许现场检测可存活的食品病原体。这项研究的更广泛影响将是为普通公众提供更好的方法来确保食品安全。目前确保食品安全的做法依赖于从农场到餐桌的特定病原体的快速识别和有效控制。然而，活的食品病原体的检测仍然依赖于传统的基于细胞生长的方法，这种方法费力而繁琐，至少需要24小时。目前可用的快速方法，如酶联免疫吸附试验和聚合酶链式反应，都不能区分活细胞和死亡细胞，这种能力可能会对食品加工业产生重大后果。拟议的技术将对商业部门进行常规分析，并对政府部门监测和追踪食品供应的意外或故意污染的来源具有价值。

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project demonstrates the feasibility for the development of an innovative biosensor system for rapid and sensitive detection of viable foodborne pathogens. The core technology of the proposed system is to introduce a genetically engineered material, as a cell viability reporter, a signal amplifier, and a detection marker, into a proprietary biosensor platform that has demonstrated high capture efficiency for food pathogens. E. coli K12 was chosen as a nonpathogenic model of E. coli O157:H7 for the Phase I feasibility study. Phase II research will expand to detect viable pathogens in real-world food samples. Collectively, a commercial prototype will be developed that allows for on-site detection of viable food pathogens.The broader impact of this research will be to provide better methods to assure food safety for the general public. Current practices for ensuring food safety rely upon rapid identification and effective control of specific pathogens from farm to fork. However, the detection of viable food pathogens still relies on the traditional cell growth based methods, which are laborious and tedious, requiring at least 24 hours. Currently available rapid methods such as ELISA and PCR are both unable to distinguish viable from dead cells, and the inability may have significant consequences for the food processing industry. The proposed technology will be valuable to the commercial sector for routine analysis and to the governmental sector to monitor for and trace the source of accidental or intentional contamination of the food supply.