Upgraded Lab-on-a-Chip for Real-Time Detection of Food-borne Pathogens

11 Feb 2014

Oliver Strohmeier and his colleagues from the University of Freiburg in Germany have developed a novel PCR-based platform to detect food-borne pathogens. Named “LabDisk”, the device implements centrifugal microfluidics for sample separation, and can be subsequently transferred to a commercially available thermocycler for real-time PCR amplification of pathogens including Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, EHEC, Staphylococcus aureus, Citrobacter freundii, and Campylobacter jejuni. Importantly, LabDisk incorporates on-chip quality controls to help validate test results, and enables quantitative as well as qualitative testing. This new approach brings molecular detection one step closer to fully integrated sample-to-answer food testing.