Every year foodborne diseases cause millions of people around the world to fall ill from the food they eat. At the same time, the global food trade – where goods cross borders and continents faster than ever before – has made it harder to find the source of foodborne disease outbreaks.
Until recently, conventional culture methods have been the most widely used microbiological method to trace the source of an outbreak. The problems with method are that it is both expensive and time consuming, and the analytical work can only be carried out in a laboratory.
To address these issues the National Food Institute has been working for the last couple of years to develop a portable laboratory that brings together all the functions of an analytical laboratory in a chip. This chip can perform all the processes from sample preparation and detection of bacteria to the reporting of the results to a central database. Turnaround time for analysis will be short (1-2 hours), but the decisive breakthrough will be that the system will remove the need to transport samples to a central laboratory.
Besides being useful when working to find the source of a foodborne disease outbreak, the chip can also be used to detect harmful bacteria in food during the production process.
Come and hear Dang Duong Bang’s inaugural lecture on his research into microbiological food analysis and the development of a lab-on-a-chip. The lecture will be in English
Invitation
See the invitation from the National Food Institute’s director Christine Nellemann (pdf).
Time
Friday 22 May 15.00-16.00 followed by a reception.
Place
Technical University of Denmark
Meeting room M.01
Building 101A, first floor
Anker Engelundsvej 1
2800 Kgs. Lyngby
Registration
Due to a limit on the number of participants and for refreshment arrangements we ask that you register by Tuesday 19 May 2015. Register for the lecture.