麥克馬斯特大學機械與化學工程師與生物化學家合作研發了一款，印有無害分子的透明貼片，當偵測到污染時會產生訊號。這種透明貼片可以直接結合食物包裝，直接監測對人體有害的病原體（如大腸桿菌以及沙門氏菌等）是否產生。此項發明已經發表於科學期刊《ACS Nano》，這個新技術有可能取代傳統的食品和飲品上的有效期限標示，可以明確的幫助消費者判斷哪些食物應該被丟棄，既不浪費食材也能減少食物中毒機率。
研究團隊將這項新的包裝材料稱為「Sentinel Wrap」。在這項研究中，化學工程師 Carlos Filipe 及生醫機械工程師 Tohid Didar 密切合作研發新偵測技術，能夠將檢測污染食物病原體的 DNA 分子印在食品包裝材料上，該材料所檢測到的食物訊號處理技術則是由生化學家 Yingfu Li 實驗室研發。研究團隊表示，大量生產這種包裝材料並不複雜，價格也不貴。
生醫機械工程師Didar表示，食品製造商能容易地將這種包裝納入其生產線。研究團隊說，若要將這項發明推向市場，需要商業合作夥伴和監管機構的批准。他們指出，相同的技術也能運用在其他地方，例如顯示傷口是否受到繃帶的感染，或者用於手術機械以確認器材都處在無菌狀態。
連結：Researchers develop transparent patch to detect dangerous food threats
we report the development of a transparent, durable, and flexible sensing surface that generates a fluorescence signal in the presence of a specific target bacterium. This material can be used in packaging, and it is capable of monitoring microbial contamination in various types of food products in real time without having to remove the sample or the sensor from the package. The sensor was fabricated by covalently attaching picoliter-sized microarrays of an E. coli-specific RNA-cleaving fluorogenic DNAzyme probe (RFD-EC1) to a thin, flexible, and transparent cyclo-olefin polymer (COP) film. Our experimental results demonstrate that the developed (RFD-EC1)-COP surface is specific, stable for at least 14 days under various pH conditions (pH 3–9), and can detect E. coli in meat and apple juice at concentrations as low as 103 CFU/mL. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our sensor is capable of detecting bacteria while still attached to the food package, which eliminates the need to manipulate the sample. The developed biosensors are stable for at least the shelf life of perishable packaged food products and provide a packaging solution for real-time monitoring of pathogens. These sensors hold the potential to make a significant contribution to the ongoing efforts to mitigate the negative public-health-related impacts of food-borne illnesses.
小編評：過去的生鮮品過期偵測技術都是觀察組織胺或是VBN這些過期指標，鮮少有微生物過期指標的偵測標籤，這次這個技術算是與過往不同的，利用在薄膜上塗布probe可以偵測目標細菌的蛋白質，告訴消費者該產品是不是有微生物汙染，不過這樣的偵測標籤成本應該很高吧…