By Roland Piquepaille
Do you want to know if the chicken you just bought at the supermarket contains bits of pork or beef? Or would you like to know if the vegetarian meal you just ordered contains some fish or meat? If your answer is yes, you might get some help from a DNA chip which can recognize 32 different species of fishes, birds and mammals, including humans (!!), in a single test. Both Small Times and New Scientist carry a story of this DNA chip, which will likely be used first by food regulators.Here is the opening of the Small Times article.
Want to know the true identity of that mystery meat in today's funky-smelling lunch special, or whether your vegetarian meal is actually animal-product free?
According to French biological diagnostics company bioMerieux, the FoodExpert-ID biochip is the first high-throughput gene chip for testing food and animal feed.
Based on DNA microarray technology from partner Affymetrix Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., the device is not actually aimed at consumers, but at the food and animal feed industries in the United States and Europe, which must meet increasingly stringent standards for what is actually in the products they sell.
Below are two illustrations of how the technology works. You can find larger pictures with higher resolutions in this image library from Affymetrix.
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Here is a cartoon depicting a single feature on an bioMérieux FoodExpert-ID Array (Credit: Affymetrix). |
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And this array shows the presence of cow DNA in the feed sample but no sheep, pig or chicken DNA (Credit: Affymetrix). |
In the wake of the recent mad cow disease (or BSE) appearing in the United States, New Scientist agrees that the chip will more likely be used first by food regulators.
The testis being evaluated by food regulatory authorities in Europe, and could also be used by supermarkets and food companies to check on their suppliers.
he test could also help expose scams like the one uncovered in Europe in May 2002, in which a few poultry producers were caught bulking up chicken meat with beef and pork waste. As well as posing a possible BSE risk, the scam also meant that people whose religions forbid eating pork may have ended up consuming it.
If the chip takes off, its first specific task is likely to be ensuring that cattle feed is free of any illegal animal remains that might spread BSE. In the US, which reported its first case of BSE in December, the Department of Agriculture may consider evaluating the test.
And obviously, this equipment has a cost which probably doesn't wit with the contents of your wallet.
Thomas Schlumberger, director of clinical genetics at Affymetrix in California, estimates the cost of all the equipment needed to perform the tests is around $250,000, but each test would cost only $350 to $550. Future generations of the chip could include DNA from an even larger number of species.
The full list of species that the FoodExpert-ID chip can identify is available on this page at bioMérieux.
Sources: Andy Coghlan, New Scientist, March 4, 2004; Jack Mason, Small Times, March 4, 2004; and various websites
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