ALARM: Next-Generation Food-Borne Pathogen Detection

A leading public health problem affecting individuals world-wide is food poisoning. Pathogen contamination of post-harvest food sources is a major health issue. There is a wealth of information and data that indicate that the occurrence of infectious gastrointestinal diseases is globally on the rise; and that food-borne pathogens can readily adapt to environmental changes, contributing significantly to this escalation. In addition, there are major challenges in the development of timely and economical methods to identify pathogens from food samples suspected of causing these illnesses. Lynntech will develop an Adaptable, Label-free, Affordable, Rapid, Mobile (ALARM) system that will detect genomic nucleic acids purified from select pathogens responsible for food-related diseases. The ALARM technology is designed to be an integrated system that will perform pathogen nucleic acid amplification, as well as target detection using an innovative, field-ready, mobile system. ALARM will detect and identify multiple pathogens responsible for infectious gastrointestinal diseases from a variety of matrices that encompass food processing and distribution. We propose a highly innovative method to detect multiple genomic loci from each of three select food-borne pathogens using convective PCR. The detection assay will be economical, user-friendly label-free and mobile. This assay has the potential to revolutionize the way in which nucleic acid amplification is viewed in the scientific arena and will be applicable to an array of nucleic-acid-based detection platforms. The Lynntech ALARM system will provide the agricultural community with a rapid, portable, label-free means to detect pathogens responsible for food-related illnesses. This device will require minimal user training and will be applicable to the detection of multiple pathogens from a variety of food-related matrices. The system offers a powerfully sensitive and novel detection platform to signal the presence of these pathogens. The Lynntech ALARM system will be applicable to both deliberate and unintentional contamination of food sources. Given the increasing incidence of food-related diseases throughout the world, the market potential for the Lynntech ALARM system is significant.