A $750,000 USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) partnership grant has been awarded to an international team led by a University of Massachusetts Amherst food and environmental virologist to develop and evaluate portable, rapid biosensors designed to detect noroviruses and mycotoxins in foods and agricultural products.
Sensor Technology to Detect Foodborne Contaminants Outside the Lab" />
UMass Amherst assistant professor Matthew Moore. Image Credit: University of Massachusetts Amherst
It is one of the USDA’s first collaboration awards with an overseas partner
Noroviruses are the most common cause of foodborne disease worldwide, and they are extremely infectious, causing pandemics every few years, according to senior researcher Matthew Moore, an assistant professor of food science.
Moore will collaborate at the Moore Lab alongside John Gibbons, a fungus expert from UMass Amherst, and Sloane Stoufer, a food science Ph.D. candidate. The UMass team will work alongside Marloes Peeters, a senior professor and principle investigator at Newcastle University’s School of Engineering in England, and Jake McClements, a postdoctoral research associate.
People can get really sick from foods that contain viruses and toxins. We need a way to quickly and easily find out if a food contains these contaminants in a cheap but effective way—without the need to go back to a separate lab to do the testing.
Matthew Moore, Assistant Professor, Food Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Mycotoxins are poisonous compounds created by a fungus that thrives in warm, humid environments and can be found in a variety of cereals, fruits, nuts, seeds, and spices. In the context of climate change trends and greater consumption of plant-based meals, they pose a growing hazard to public health, according to Moore.
One of the interesting things about mycotoxins as a foodborne contaminant is that they’re often not very acute, so you’re less likely to notice it. Oftentimes, the damage they do is more chronic, and they will mess with the kidneys and liver especially and can promote cancer. With this technology we’re trying to create a cheap, highly durable, and potentially reusable sensor that can detect these contaminants.
Matthew Moore, Assistant Professor, Food Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst
This emphasizes the need for early detection.
Food scientists at UMass Amherst teamed up with engineers from Newcastle University to apply for a unique USDA NIFA international partnership award. The British engineers are global leaders in molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticle-based electrochemical sensing systems (nanoMIPs).
The grant enables an unprecedented international exchange. The UMass team will learn more about the application of nanoMIPs when they visit the Peeters Lab at Newcastle, and the UK team will be hosted by Moore’s Applied and Environmental Virology Lab to gain knowledge about virological, microbiological and food science techniques.
Matthew Moore, Assistant Professor, Food Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst
“This nanoMIP-based sensing technology has numerous advantages. It is very stable in intense conditions, and very portable. It is also quite inexpensive, a very important consideration in testing for foods”, stated Moore.
Electrochemical sensing based on NanoMIP is an intriguing new application for agricultural goals.
Moore concluded, “The technology has already shown promise for other targets, including SARS-CoV-2, and we hope to further explore its potential for human noroviruses and mycotoxins.”