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Aptamers for safety and quality assurance in the food industry: detection of pathogens
Author(s) -
Kärkkäinen Riikka M.,
Drasbek Mette Ryun,
McDowall Ian,
Smith Christopher J.,
Young Niall W.G.,
Bonwick Graham A.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal of food science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.831
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1365-2621
pISSN - 0950-5423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2621.2010.02470.x
Subject(s) - aptamer , food safety , biochemical engineering , computational biology , systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment , microbiology and biotechnology , consumer safety , nanotechnology , biology , risk analysis (engineering) , business , rna , biochemistry , engineering , food science , materials science , gene
Summary Aptamers are biomolecular ligands composed of nucleic acids. They can be developed to bind specifically to a range of target molecules and subsequently exploited in a fashion analogous to more traditional biomolecules such as antibodies. Methods for the production of aptamers and their potential applications to the food industry in the form of rapid assays and biosensors are discussed. In contrast to antibody‐based diagnostics, aptamers can be produced in animal‐free systems which have clear ethical and financial benefits. This review identifies a need for the development of new aptamers with specificity against micro‐organisms and highlights their potential use for the detection of food‐borne pathogens.