New technology could offer cheaper, faster food testing
The foodborne pathogen Escherichia coli O157 causes an estimated 73,000 illnesses and 60 deaths every year in the United States. Better safety tests could help avoid some of the illnesses caused by this strain of E. coli and other harmful bacteria, according to MIT researchers who have come up with a possible new solution. The new MIT test is based on a novel type of liquid droplet that can bind to bacterial proteins. This interaction, which can be detected by either the naked eye or a smartphone, could offer a much faster and cheaper alternative to existing food safety tests. “It’s a brand new way to do sensing,” says Timothy Swager, the John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry at MIT and the senior author of the study. “What we have here is something that can be massively cheaper, with low entry costs.” Qifan Zhang, an MIT graduate student, is the lead author of...