Microarray Detection and Identification of Foodborne Viruses in Fresh Produce

What is it about?

Foodborne viruses are responsible for outbreaks causing a significant impact on the safety of food supply. We have shown for the first time that viruses extracted from artificially contaminated produce can be detected using a custom microarray. The successful detection and identification of viral contaminants will assist the process of developing and implementing effective responses to foodborne outbreaks, developing a surveillance strategy for virus detection, and preventing the sale of contaminated products.

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Why is it important?

There are many challenges in the detection and identification of foodborne viruses in food matrices due to low viral load, difficulties in cell culture, matrix complexity, and enzymatic inhibitors. Various molecular technologies need to be developed to address different practical questions for food safety. Microarray is one of the molecular methods that work to analyze multiple viruses simultaneously within one sample at a reasonable cost and efficiency.

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