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Better tools for food safety

By 10 de February de 2011November 18th, 2020No Comments
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 10.02.2011

Better tools for food safety

On 2 February the kick-off meeting of a transnational project coordinated by postdoc Beatriz Prieto of the Nanobioengineering group took place at IBEC. The project, ‘Development of innovative tools for Ochratoxin A', will evaluate and tackle the threat to humans and animals of exposure to mycotoxins (fungal metabolites) in food.

It is to be funded for two years by the Working Community of the Pyrenees (CTP) and involves French partners the Université de Perpignan and the Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse, the Basque country’s Centro de Tecnologías Electroquímicas (CIDETEC) and the Catalan Institute of Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (IRTA), as well as several industry partners.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a common mycotoxin which contaminates a wide range of animal and plant products – including cereals, coffee, cocoa, nuts and vines – during storage. Studies show that the absorption of OTA in the gastrointestinal tract causes acute and chronic lesions of the kidneys and liver, and in humans its presence has been associated with an increased incidence of tumours in the upper urinary tract, leading to its classification as a possible carcinogen.

The techniques currently used to detect OTA are expensive and inefficient, and the partners will be using new technology based on nanomolecules called aptamers to develop a range of innovative, safe and sensitive detection tools. Besides coordinating the project, the IBEC Nanobioengineering group will design and optimize bioassays and biosensors based on these innovative sensing components to allow greater sensitivity and specificity in detecting mycotoxins, as well as being simple to use.