Collaboration Enables Simultaneous Detection of 14 Food Borne Pathogens

Toshiba Ltd and Kawasaki City Institute for Public Health collaborate in the development of a rapid and efficient DNA chip technology for testing 14 major types of food borne pathogens for applications in hygiene management in food manufacture, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. The researchers are affiliated with the Kawasaki INnovation Gateway at SKYFRONT, Japan.

Further information about science and technology projects at Kawasaki City is available in the Kawasaki SkyFront iNewsletter that highlights research being conducted by scientists and industries affiliated with Kawasaki INnovation Gateway at SKYFRONT (KING SKYFRONT)-the City’s flagship science and technology hub focused on open innovation in the life sciences and environment.

KING SKYFRONT is located on the opposite side of the Tama River that separates Tokyo International Airport (also known as Haneda Airport) and the Tonomachi district of Kawasaki. The Airport plays an important role in the globalization of the innovative activities of scholars, industrialists and City administrators based at KING SKYFRONT.

Kawasaki SkyFront iNewsletter: http://inewsletter-king-skyfront.jp/en/

Rapid and efficient DNA chip technology for testing 14 major types of food borne pathogens
Conventional methods for testing food-borne pathogens is based on the cultivation of pathogens, a process that is complicated and time consuming. So there is demand for alternative methods to test for food-borne pathogens that are simpler, quick and applicable to a wide range of potential applications.

Now Toshiba Ltd and Kawasaki City Institute for Public Health have collaborated in the development of a rapid and efficient automatic abbreviated DNA detection technology that can test for 14 major types of food borne pathogens. The so called ‘DNA chip card’ employs electrochemical DNA chips and overcomes the complicated procedures associated with genetic testing of conventional methods. The ‘DNA chip card’ is expected to find applications in hygiene management in food manufacture, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.

Details
The so-called automatic abbreviated DNA detection technology ‘DNA chip card’ was developed by Toshiba Ltd and in a collaboration with Kawasaki City Institute for Public Health, used to simultaneously detect 14 different types of food-borne pathogens in less than 90 minutes. The detection sensitivity depends on the target pathogen and has a range of 1E+01~05 cfu/mL.

Notably, such tests would usually take 4-5 days using conventional methods based on pathogen cultivation. Furthermore, in contrast to conventional DNA protocols that require high levels of skill and expertise, the ‘DNA chip card’ only requires the operator to inject nucleic acid, thereby making the procedure easier to use and without specialized operating skills.

Examples of pathogens associated with food poisoning that were tested with the “DNA chip card”

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli
Salmonella
Campylobacter
Vibrio parahaemolyticus
Shigella
Staphylococcus aureus
Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli
Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli
Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli
Clostridium perfringens
Bacillus cereus
Yersinia
Listeria
Vibrio cholerae