Foodborne Contaminants News
Protective peptide hydrogel
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) include several serious diseases, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans. TSEs remain poorly understood. They are inevitably fatal, and there is no known cure or effective treatment. FCR Research Biologist Robert Hnasko investigated a biocompatible hydrogel peptide that generates a very unusual response in a hamster TSE model. When hydrogel is co-administered with a disease challenge, most subjects show a remarkable delay in the onset of disease symptoms and a significant increase in survival time. This work is the subject of a U.S. Patent application, and has been published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature.
New method for TSE sample preparation
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), including scrapie, chronic wasting disease, and “mad cow” disease, worry consumers all over the world. The U.S. beef supply is safe, because ruminant offal is banned from feed. But testing is important to confirm control of these extremely rare diseases. Most commercial tests for TSEs rely on a sample of animal brain and digestion with a powerful enzyme. FCR scientists have developed new enzyme-free sample preparation techniques. These techniques should facilitate development of a blood test for TSE, allowing testing of live animals.
Ensuring a safe food supply
The U.S. food supply is safe and secure. But if terrorists were to stage an attack, we expect they would use relatively crude biological toxins they could acquire more easily than more potent purified material. FCR Research Biologist Xiaohua He has developed sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the castor bean genetic material that typically contaminates crude ricin. This work is described in three peer-reviewed publications in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and the Journal of Food Protection, and was recently featured in a podcast produced by the American Chemical Society.
Press
April 2007
FCR Research Chemist Chris Silva prepared a brief update on BSE science posted online in the National Provisioner.
August 2008
FCR research was featured in a podcast produced by the American Chemical Society. Although Research Leader John Mark Carter was quoted in the podcast, the ricin research described was actually performed in the laboratory of FCR Research Molecular Biologist Xiaohua He. You can find her original papers here and here. For a link to the podcast, click the ACS icon below:
Calendar
February 2, 2009
FCR Research Chemist David Brandon, Research Leader John Mark Carter, and Research Biologist (post-doctoral) Laurie Bollinger-Clotilde participated in a food safety workshop offered by the California League of Food Processors (Sacramento, CA).
February 17-20, 2009
FCR Research Chemist David Brandon and Research Leader John Mark Carter participated in a food safety research planning meeting with colleagues from the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), as well as representatives from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at the National Conservation Training Center (Shepherdstown, WV).
March 1-3, 2009
FCR Research Chemist Christopher Silva presented an abstract describing research on detection of transmissible spongiform encephalopthy diseases while participating in PrP Canada (Edmonton, Canada).
March 11-14, 2009
FCR Research Chemist Reuven Rasooly presented original research at a Staphylococcus Symposium (Honolulu, HI).
March 13-14, 2009
FCR Research Biologist (post-doctoral) Laurie Bollinger-Clotilde presented an abstract at the meeting of the Northern California Branch of the American Society for Microbiology (San Ramon, CA).
March 31 - April 1, 2009
FCR Research Chemist Christopher Silva participated in a Scientific Advisory Panel convened by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to discuss scientific issues associated with the designation of prions as pests under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) (Arlington, VA).
May 3-6, 2009
FCR Research Chemist Christopher Silva will present an abstract describing research on detection of transmissible spongiform encephalopthy diseases at the 100th Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society (Orlando, FL).
May 5, 2009
FCR Research Leader John Mark Carter will present research results and plans on a visit to the FDA's National Center for Toxicologial Research (Jefferson, AR).
May 6-8, 2009
FCR Research Leader John Mark Carter will visit the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, and Lone Star College Montgomery (Conroe, TX) for recruiting.
May 17-21, 2009
FCR Research Biologist Luisa Cheng, Research Biologist (post-doctoral) Laurie Bollinger-Clotilde, and Research Microbiologist Xiaohua He will present original research results at the 109th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (Philadelphia, PA).
June 4-5, 2009
FCR Research Biologist Luisa Cheng will present an abstract titled "Botulinum research at WRRC," at the 8th International Conference of Food Science and Technology (Davis, CA).
June 23-26, 2009
FCR Research Biologist (post-doctoral) Laurie Bollinger-Clotilde will give an oral presentation on her research at a Sample Preparation symposium hosted by the Knowledge Foundation (Baltimore, MD).
July 22-24, 2009
FCR Research Chemist Chris Silva will present an abstract titled "Mass spectrometric approaches to detecting prions in the attomole range" at the Third International Chronic Wasting Disease Symposium (Park City, UT).
August 23-27, 2009
FCR Research Leader John Mark Carter and Chemist Irina Dynin will participate in the Ninth International Symposium on Mass Spectrometry in the Health and Life Sciences (San Francisco, CA).
August 24-27, 2009
FCR Research Biologist Robert Hnasko will present an abstract titled "Intracerebral inoculation of prion-infected brain homogenate with a beta sheet peptide (RADA16) disrupts prion accumulation and extends survival," at the Benzon Symposium #56 Functional and Pahtogenic Protein Aggregation (Copenhagen, Denmark).
September 7-10, 2009
FCR Research Chemist David Brandon will participate in the Xth International Conference on AgriFood Antibodies (Wageningen, Netherlands).
September 13-16, 2009
FCR Research Chemist David Brandon will participate in the 123d Annual Meeting and Exposition of AOAC International (Philadelphia, PA).
October 18-22, 2009
FCR Research Chemist David Brandon will participate in the 36th Annual Meeting of the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (Louisville, KY).
The ARS News Service provides audiovisual resources and an email news service addressing agriculture news and recent research findings from the ARS. Their website is here.
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