{"id":13873,"date":"2019-11-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.alj3.clients.lemonhq.io\/perspectives\/j-wafs-in-action-combating-food-contamination-4\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T12:41:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T12:41:47","slug":"j-wafs-in-action-combating-food-contamination-4","status":"publish","type":"perspectives","link":"https:\/\/cms.alj3.clients.lemonhq.io\/es\/perspectives\/j-wafs-in-action-combating-food-contamination-4\/","title":{"rendered":"J-WAFS en acci\u00f3n: combatiendo la contaminaci\u00f3n alimentaria"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tim Swager<\/a>, the John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry at MIT, and coworkers, have developed a new way to bring a fast, easy, and affordable food safety sensing technology to industry and consumers.<\/p>\n

Funded by the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS<\/a>), their research is based on specialized droplets \u2014 called Janus emulsions \u2014 that can detect bacterial contamination in food.<\/p>\n

Abdul Latif Jameel Perspectives<\/a> talked to Prof. Swager to learn about the project and its potential impact on global food safety.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 What is the main issue you are seeking to address with this research?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TS: <\/em>The reason we get so many product recalls, particularly in the U.S., is that we don\u2019t have the ability to test for pathogenic organisms like listeria, campylobacter or E. coli with sufficient sensitivity and speed before products have to be distributed to grocery stores.<\/p>\n

\"Escherichia

Escherichia coli electron micrograph<\/span><\/p>\n

(\u00a9 Janice Harvey Carr, Center for Disease Control)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

They have a limited shelf-life, and often must be stored at a reduced temperature – and it\u2019s costly to interrupt that process.<\/p>\n

There are numerous different food safety sensing technologies that are already on the market but considering the frequency of pathogen-based food recalls, it is clear that this problem has not yet been solved.<\/p>\n

My idea was always that, if you\u2019re trying to detect organisms or biological processes, it would be best if you could do it in a way that closely mimics their native environment. \u00a0So that\u2019s what we set out to do.<\/p>\n

Q: Can you explain how your technology works?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We work with complex liquid colloids. \u00a0They are produced by dispersing tiny droplets containing two different oils in water, and then we assemble biomolecular recognition elements at the surface that act like \u2018bait\u2019 for pathogens or other organisms. \u00a0We use these complex liquid colloids, which we also simply refer to as \u2018droplets\u2019, to bind to pathogens and use their relative organizations for detection.<\/p>\n

We have made use of liquid droplets having equal amounts of the two immiscible oils in a structure we call the Perfect Janus Emulsion, wherein in there are two hemispheres of equal size. \u00a0The oils that constitute hemispheres have different densities, which affects how they align, with the heavier oil being on the bottom.\u00a0 However, just like a privacy screen that you can put on your laptop screen these droplets only transmit images when viewed straight on with respect to their alignment. \u00a0This is because they are, after all, liquid lenses.<\/p>\n

\"Janus

Janus emulsion droplets are captured in the process of changing form in response to the presence of contamination by a food pathogen in the lab. Viewable with the naked eye and, with a handheld sensor in development, that can quantify the presence and amount of bacterial contamination in food. (Photo Credit: \u00a9 The Swager Group, MIT)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

What makes these liquid micro-lenses particularly unique is their ability to bind to specific bacteria proteins. \u00a0Their binding properties enable them to adopt different orientations when bound to particular bacteria or proteins.\u00a0 These binding processes cause them to tilt and disrupt the \u201cprivacy screen like\u201d orientation.<\/p>\n

The result is that rather than transmitting an image they become opaque.<\/p>\n

This macroscopic effect can be used with a smart phone and cause an image viewed through a layer of the droplets to become unrecognizable.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, these tilted<\/em> Perfect Janus droplets can be counted using image analysis and this method can give accurate measurements of the number of bacterial or concentration of the protein present.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 Why is this technology so disruptive to the food safety testing industry? <\/strong><\/p>\n

TS:<\/em>\u00a0 To test effectively for pathogen-based food contamination, you need to test as frequently as possible.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re testing one in every 50,000 units, you\u2019re going to miss many cases of contamination. \u00a0To test more often, you need a test that is fast, ideally in one or two hours \u2013 and that\u2019s what we have produced.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a big established market, and the current technology is inadequate in terms of speed, sensitivity, and cost. \u00a0Our method represents a significant improvement on the existing technology, and it will potentially allow us to capture a large section of that market in the coming years.<\/p>\n

Currently, our startup company Xibus Systems<\/a> is developing protocols for field tests. \u00a0Our goal is to provide a system that allows end users to operate in their typical fashion.\u00a0 We are striving to make it simple, fast, robust, require minimum training and not disrupt current operational structures and processes.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 Is the industry proving to be receptive to your ideas?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TS:<\/em>\u00a0 Food producers are very open to new technologies. \u00a0But this comes with the feature that it will very competitive to keep customers who are open to the next, latest, greatest, technology. \u00a0You need to continually develop and innovate otherwise you will get left behind. \u00a0So, a very dynamic market, but it\u2019s an area where we think we can compete and potentially dominate. \u00a0We have to create a superior product and, once we\u2019re in the market, our job is to continue to innovate to stay ahead of the competition.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 Where else could your technology be applied?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TS:<\/em>\u00a0 One of the most obvious areas is testing for \u2018spoilage organisms. \u00a0Spoilage leads to big losses for food producers, so a fast, effective way to detect spoilage organisms in a product will deliver considerable benefits.<\/p>\n

It could also be used to check for contamination of food processing equipment. \u00a0Our technology allows producers to swab pieces of equipment to ensure it\u2019s been cleaned properly. \u00a0So, if you\u2019re making sausages in a large facility, for example, you clean your equipment and you want to make sure it\u2019s all clean and back online as soon as possible. \u00a0We can help keep the equipment operating and ensure the safety of the food being processed.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 Where do you see this technology going in terms of future development?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TS:<\/em>\u00a0 The equipment we\u2019re currently using, the first generation, is the size of a shoebox. \u00a0Eventually, we expect it to be as small as a smartphone and for some of our applications the reader could actually be<\/em> a commercial smartphone. \u00a0For example, with higher concentrations of pathogenic organisms, you\u2019d be able to quantify them through a photograph taken on a smartphone using a standard magnifying lens. \u00a0You could check the bacterial count in a stream, for example, and immediately know if it\u2019s okay to be given to livestock.<\/p>\n

This technology is also applicable to healthcare. \u00a0It could tell you if you have influenza or AIDS. \u00a0We\u2019ve already created a Zika virus test by recognizing a protein biomarker. \u00a0It can detect other viruses, or proteins associated with different diseases such as gut-related illnesses in your digestive system. \u00a0We envision producing do it yourself home tests using a smartphone and application software.<\/p>\n

For commercial users, we\u2019ll also produce an affordable platform that\u2019s designed to sit on a benchtop and can allow you to analyze 100\u2019s of samples simultaneously. \u00a0Such a capability will be important if you\u2019re operating a large-scale production facility and need high efficiency.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 What are its potential applications in less developed countries?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TS:<\/em>\u00a0 Our methods are simple enough that they could have huge benefits in less developed countries. \u00a0It can be applied to drinking water and all sorts of foods.\u00a0 For example, metastasis in cows is a big problem for milk producers all over the world. \u00a0It can spread quickly through entire herds.<\/p>\n

\"Milk<\/p>\n

In India<\/a>, for example, milk from a number of different herds in a region will often be combined at a central collection point. \u00a0If one herd has metastasis, the entire batch is spoiled. \u00a0Our technology would be able to identify metastasis in an affected herd before it contaminates unaffected milk.<\/p>\n

The key thing is, it has to be really simple as farmers themselves will be doing this test. \u00a0It also has to be reproducible even when conducted by people who may not pay attention to the details in the way that a trained scientist would.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 How important has the J-WAFS program been to the successful development of this technology?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"J-WAFSTS:<\/em> Our involvement with the J-WAFS Solutions Program has been vital. \u00a0It has provided us with a bridge between the academic world and the business world and allowed us to perform more detailed work to create a useable application.<\/p>\n

J-WAFS Solutions\u2019 funding specifically allowed us to undertake a field test on live Salmonella bacteria under real conditions with the US Department of Agriculture.<\/p>\n

We took our portable spectrometer and droplets to their facility in Pennsylvania, and it worked first time. \u00a0This demonstration proved to us that the assays work in the real world. \u00a0These are not the kind of studies you will do under a typical government research grant.\u00a0 So, these J-WAFS sponsored studies gave me and my team the confidence to seek commercialization and the company Xibus Systems was born.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 What comes next?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TS:\u00a0 <\/em>There\u2019s a good chance that we\u2019ll have at least one customer field test completed by the end of this calendar year.\u00a0 We will be conducting demos with prospective customers on an ongoing basis and seek to add additional customers in different sub-spaces by the beginning of next year.<\/p>\n

Once we get significant customer buy-in, we should be able to start scaling up for larger-scale droplet production.\u00a0 However, the fact that we use such small amounts for each test, these scale-up processes will be conducted in a standard laboratory and will not require major capital.<\/p>\n

We have some very good seed investors, and our funding will run out in late spring.\u00a0 So, we need to establish that we have customers in hand to optimally raise the next round of financing. \u00a0This is the reality of the start-up! \u00a0You have inflection points where you have to demonstrate capability and thereby create value in order to attract additional funding.<\/p>\n

I think we\u2019re on track.<\/p>\n