Foodborne Contaminants News
Protective peptide hydrogel
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) include several serious diseases, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans. TSEs remain poorly understood. They are inevitably fatal, and there is no known cure or effective treatment. FCR Research Biologist Robert Hnasko investigated a biocompatible hydrogel peptide that generates a very unusual response in a hamster TSE model. When hydrogel is co-administered with a disease challenge, most subjects show a remarkable delay in the onset of disease symptoms and a significant increase in survival time. This work is the subject of a U.S. Patent application, and has been published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature.
New method for TSE sample preparation
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), including scrapie, chronic wasting disease, and “mad cow” disease, worry consumers all over the world. The U.S. beef supply is safe, because ruminant offal is banned from feed. But testing is important to confirm control of these extremely rare diseases. Most commercial tests for TSEs rely on a sample of animal brain and digestion with a powerful enzyme. FCR scientists have developed new enzyme-free sample preparation techniques. These techniques should facilitate development of a blood test for TSE, allowing testing of live animals.
Ensuring a safe food supply
The U.S. food supply is safe and secure. But if terrorists were to stage an attack, we expect they would use relatively crude biological toxins they could acquire more easily than more potent purified material. FCR Research Biologist Xiaohua He has developed sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the castor bean genetic material that typically contaminates crude ricin. This work is described in three peer-reviewed publications in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and the Journal of Food Protection, and was recently featured in a podcast produced by the American Chemical Society.
Press
April 2007
FCR Research Chemist Chris Silva prepared a brief update on BSE science posted online in the National Provisioner.
August 2008
FCR research was featured in a podcast produced by the American Chemical Society (ACS). Although Research Leader John Mark Carter was quoted in the podcast, the ricin research described was actually performed in the laboratory of FCR Research Molecular Biologist Xiaohua He. You can find her original papers here and here. For a link to the podcast, click the ACS icon below:
May 2009
Our food defense research was featured in the May-June 2009 issue of Agriculture Research. We presented our recent accomplishments in the magazine's Forum as well as a full feature article.
December 2009
Research by FCR Research Biologist Reuven Rasooly was described in the December 16 issue of Food Technology weekly online. The article is based on Marcia Wood's ARS press release on December 14, and it describes Reuven's new test for Staphyococcal enterotoxin A (SEA). SEA is a toxin produced by the common food poisoning bacteria Staphyococcus aureus.
Calendar
October 18-22, 2009
FCR Research Chemist David Brandon participated in the 36th Annual Meeting of the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (Louisville, KY).
October 18-22, 2009
FCR Research Biologists Luisa Cheng and Larry Stanker presented original research results on botulism toxins at a meeting of the Interagency Botulism Research Coordinating Committee (Alexandria, VA).
October 29-30, 2009
FCR Biological Science Laboratory Technician Alice Lin presented recent accomplishments in TSE antibody development at GTC Bio Antibody Partnering and Technology Summit (San Francisco, CA).
November 4-7, 2009
FCR Research Leader John Mark Carter delivered an invited lecture on detection of botulinum neurotoxin in food at Recent Advances in Food Analysis (Prague, Czech Republic).
February 17-19, 2010
FCR Research Leader John Mark Carter will participate in the annual workshop coordinating research for the USDA's Agriculture Research Service (ARS) and the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) (Shepherdstown, WV).
March 23-24, 2010
FCR Research Leader John Mark Carter will discuss current and emerging research topics with industry stakeholders in a workshop hosted by National Program 103 Animal Health (Baltimore, MD).
March 21-25, 2010
Several FCR scientists will participate in a nearby meeting of the American Chemical Society (San Francisco, CA).
May 12-14, 2010
FCR Research Biologist (post-doctoral) Laurie Clotilde will present her latests data at the 7th Annual Planet xMAP symposium on assay multiplexing, hosted by collaborators in the Luminex Corporation. FCR Research Leader John Mark Carter will also participate (Baltimore, MD).
The ARS News Service provides audiovisual resources and an email news service addressing agriculture news and recent research findings from the ARS. Their website is here.
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