Biosensor development for mycotoxins

食品和饲料中不安全的污染物水平需要新的技术来检测从生产到消费的整个食品过程中的这些化合物。一类特别令人担忧的天然化合物可能会污染食品，霉菌毒素，有毒的真菌次生代谢物。虽然存在检测真菌毒素的传统分析技术，但仍然迫切需要更简单、更快速和成本效益更高的方法来检测真菌毒素。生物传感器由针对感兴趣分析物的特定分子识别探针和将识别事件转换为可测量信号的手段组成。由于分子识别是生物传感的基础，开发用于食品安全监测的新型分子识别探针越来越受到人们的关注。由于它们的体外选择和生产，相对较新的适体技术正在成为一种可行的替代方案 用于生物传感器平台。该提案审查了针对一种特定真菌毒素的适体的开发，以期开发可纳入这些探针的生物传感器平台。

Unsafe levels of contaminants in food and feed requires new technology for the detection of these compounds along the food continuum from production to consumption. One particularly concerning class of naturally occurring compounds that can contaminate food products are mycotoxins, toxic fungal secondary metabolites. While traditional analytical techniques exist for the detection of mycotoxins, there is still an urgent need for simpler, more rapid, and cost-effective approaches to mycotoxin testing. Biosensors consist of a specific molecular recognition probe targeting an analyte of interest and a means of converting that recognition event into a measurable signal. As molecular recognition is the foundation of biosensing, there has been increased focus on the development of new molecular recognition probes for food-safety monitoring. Because of their in vitro selection and production, the relatively new technology of aptamers is emerging as a viable alternative for use in biosensor platforms. This proposal examines the development of aptamers for a particular mycotoxin with a view to developing biosensor platforms in which these probes can be incorporated.