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Volume 6, Issue 8 (Suppl) J Biotechnol Biomater
ISSN: 2155-952X JBTBM, an open access journal Bio America 2016
November 28-30, 2016
Page 19
Notes:
conferenceseries.com
November 28-30, 2016 San Francisco, USA
13th Biotechnology Congress
New methods for the detection and mitigation of food-borne toxins
Food-borne toxins such as botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) and mycotoxins are food-borne toxins that cause severe human
diseases. Because of their acute toxicity, there are intense research efforts to develop sensitive detection tools, vaccines
and therapeutics. In our laboratories, high-affinity monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been developed for the detection of
different BoNT serotypes in commonly used ELISA and new immunoassays using electrochemiluminescence and microfluidic
platforms. Detection limits of these new assays fall within the pg per ml range that is well below those of standard assays
for BoNTs. New gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS) methods are tested for the early detection of fungal
contamination in nut products. A better understanding of the biology of toxins in plants and animals and the factors that affect
their toxicity, coupled with the development of more sensitive detection and simpler diagnostic tests, would be invaluable for
advancing food safety and protection.
Biography
Luisa Cheng has completed her PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles and her Postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley focusing in the
pathogenesis of food-borne pathogens. She has joined the Agricultural Research Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2006 and is currently the Research
Leader of the Food-borne Toxin Detection and Prevention Research Unit in the Western Regional Research Center. Her research program focuses on the development
of sensitive detection assays for food-borne toxins, the study of biological mechanisms underlying toxin absorption and action and the identification of prevention and
therapeutic strategies.
Luisa Cheng
United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, USA
Luisa Cheng, J Biotechnol Biomater 2016, 6:8(Suppl)