Detection of pathogenic bacteria through antimicrobial peptide-based canetilever bio-MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) sensor

提出的研究目标是开发一种基于微流体和生物传感器的平台，用于精确和高灵敏度地检测食品样品中的致病菌。被致病菌污染的食物会导致人类患上严重疾病，导致住院和死亡。例如，即食肉类中的李斯特菌，生绞牛肉中的大肠杆菌，鸡肉中的沙门氏菌已经在加拿大和其他国家引发了几次疫情。及早发现并采取措施防止食品中病原体的传播，不仅有助于减少此类事件造成的经济损失，而且还极大地有利于公众健康。目前用于检测食品中病原体的技术能力有限，因为它们需要较长的处理时间和熟练的使用者。因此，一个主要的技术挑战是开发新的检测设备，快速和简单的使用。

The goal of the proposed research is to develop a microfluidics and biosensor-based platform for precise and highly sensitive detection of pathogenic bacteria in food samples. Contamination of food with pathogenic bacteria leads to serious illness in humans resulting in hospitalization and deaths. For instance, Listeria in ready-to-eat meats, E. coli in raw ground beef, and Salmonella in chicken have lead to several outbreaks in Canada and other countries. Early detection and measures to prevent the spread of pathogens in food products would not only help reduce economic losses from such incidences but also tremendously benefit public health. Currently available techniques for detecting pathogens in food have limited capability as they require long processing time and skilled users. Therefore a major technology challenge is to develop new detection devices which are fast and simple to use.