Biosensors for Food Safety
Thoroughly cooked meat minimizes contamination worries, especially with the presence of so many ingredients in the industrial food supply.Copyright 2012 Lisa Wininger, Michigan State University (left and middle); U.S. Department of Agriculture (right) http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/ar/archive/mar04/pigs0304.htm
How can you tell if harmful bacteria are in your food or water that might make you sick? What you eat or drink can be contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites and toxins—pathogens that can be harmful or even fatal. Students learn which contaminants have the greatest health risks and how they enter the food supply. Students can conduct their own experiment to investigate bacteria growth using the associated activity. While food supply contaminants can be identified from cultures grown in labs, bioengineers are creating technologies to make the detection of contaminated food quicker, easier and more effective.
Using biological lab tests to detect harmful bacteria in food is time consuming, technically complex and sometimes inaccurate. New testing technology is needed to better safeguard our food supply. Engineers are currently developing and testing nano-scale biosensors to address the serious problem of pathogen detection in the medical, military, food and environmental industries. Field-based, rapid and accurate detection of pathogens using hand-held nano-scale biosensors has the potential to save lives, reduce outbreaks and increase public confidence in the food supply.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Identify common foodborne bacteria that cause human illness.
- Describe how people can protect themselves from contaminated food.
- Identify locations where bacteria may be introduced in the food supply chain, and the method of introduction.
- Explain how the engineering design process is used to create new ways to solve human problems.