Researchers developing food pathogen biosensors garner Agriculture Team Award

The award ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. in the Pfendler Hall Deans of Agriculture Auditorium and will include a presentation about the team's research. The event is free and open to the public.

The Biosensor Detection Team's research focuses on rapidly determining whether such microbes as Listeria monocytogenes or E. coli exist in food, particularly meat and milk products. The technologies the team has developed include an innovative biochip that analyzes very small amounts of food and does it faster and less expensively than current methods.

The researchers also have found a way to take large samples of foods and concentrate the microorganisms into small volumes to inject onto the chip.

"We have a number of different platforms in the team's research because we have brought together many scientific disciplines," said Arun Bhunia, a microbiologist is the Department of Food Science. "The interdisciplinary work not only has enabled us to produce these new technologies, but it also has helped us better teach and train undergraduate and graduate students in biology, microbiology and engineering.

"This award is a highlight and a result of the teamwork. We could not have achieved the same results if just one research specialty had been involved."

The biochip sensor, about the size of a fingernail, can determine if pathogen cells are present and whether they are dead or alive. Live cells cause disease, and it requires fewer than 10 cells to cause illness. The diagnostic method that includes the biosensor and the cell concentration technology has decreased detection time from two to three days to a few hours.

"The technologies that the Biosensor Detection Team has developed are a major step in protecting food throughout the supply system from accidental or purposeful contamination by potentially deadly pathogens," said Randy Woodson, Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture. "This technology eventually will be available to many segments of the food-producing industry and will save time and money."

Approximately 76 millions cases of food-borne illness occur annually in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This results in 325,000 people being hospitalized, 5,500 deaths and costs the health-care industry and individuals as much as $23 billion.

Consumption of pathogen-contaminated food can cause meningitis, encephalitis — swelling of the brain — liver abscess, headache, fever and gastrointestinal problems. Listeria monocytogenes has a 20 percent fatality rate for those affected. The very young, people 60 and over, pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems are most at risk of being sickened by these pathogens.

The USDA Agricultural Research Service has funded the work through a cooperative agreement with the Purdue Center for Food Safety Engineering.

Team members are:

College of Agriculture:

Department of Food Science: Bruce Applegate, associate professor; Arun Bhunia, professor; Richard Linton, professor; Kiya Smith, laboratory technician; Mark Morgan, associate professor; Padmapriya Banada, postdoctoral research scientist.

Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering: Michael Ladisch, distinguished professor.

Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture: Debra Sherman, manager, life sciences microscopy facility.

College of Engineering:

Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering: Rashid Bashir, professor.

Department of Biomedical Engineering: J. Paul Robinson, professor, also of the College of Science, Department of Biology.

Department of Chemical Engineering: David Taylor, laboratory technician.

Department of Mechanical Engineering: Dan Hirleman, William E. and Florence E. Perry Head and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Interim Director of Global Engineering Programs.

School of Veterinary Medicine:

Department of Basic Medical Sciences: Jennifer Sturgis, laboratory technician.

U.S. Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service: Shu-I Tu, supervisory research chemist.

Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering: Miraslav Sedlak, senior research scientist; Nate Mosier, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering; Tom Huang, also of Department of Chemical Engineering; Linda Liu, laboratory supervisor; Xingya Liu, laboratory technician.

Writer: Susan A. Steeves, (765) 494-7481, ssteeves@purdue.edu

Sources: Arun Bhunia, (765) 494-5443, bhunia@purdue.edu

Randy Woodson, (765) 494-8391, woodson@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
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Purdue Center for Food Safety Engineering

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