Multiplexed Molecular Assays Developed for Foodborne Pathogens

Seegene Inc., (Seoul, Korea) and DuPont Nutrition and Health (Wilmington, DE, USA) have agreed to jointly develop highly multiplexed assays for the detection of foodborne pathogens.

Seegene is a leading developer of multiplex molecular technologies and diagnostic tests (M-MoDx) and DuPont Nutrition and Health is a leading provider of rapid, molecular diagnostic systems.

The novel technologies from Seegene will be combined with the powerful chemistry and analytics of the BAX System from DuPont, which allows for a potential step-change in pathogen testing. The Seegene Dual Priming Oligonucleotide (DPO) technology generates consistently high specificity by eliminating primer competition, and TOCE technology allows the identification of multiple targets in a single dye channel.

The automated BAX system uses leading-edge technology, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays, tableted reagents and optimized media to detect bacteria and other microbes with certainty. Pathogenic organisms, such as Salmonella, Listeria species, pathogenic Escherichia coli, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), Campylobacter, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio, and yeast, can be assayed at the genetic level, using the power of the PCR.

The DPO technology is a fundamental tool for blocking extension of nonspecifically primed templates, generating assays that are both highly specific and highly sensitive. The TOCE technology enables simultaneous multiplex testing, by using the differences in melting temperatures of designed artificial amplicons. Prior to TOCE, multiplex assays were difficult because even a small variation in amplicon sequences changes the melting temperature (Tm) of the amplicon. TOCE technology overcomes current limitations of Tm analysis and allows testing of multiple targets with one fluorescent label by ensuring that sequence variation does not change the melting temperature.

Seegene's M-MoDx can simultaneously detect multiple targets with high sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility. These products detect multipathogens with great reliability and throughput, ultimately providing the most economical basis for saving time, labor, and costs. Jong-Yoon Chun, PhD, founder and chief executive officer of Seegene, said, "By leveraging these novel technologies, we can advance from the current ‘one test, one pathogen’ approach to a ‘one test, many pathogens’ paradigm. This will significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of food safety testing, and help to reduce the prevalence of foodborne illness." The combined technologies may have application for both the Public Health laboratories and nosocomial tracing departments.

Related Links:
Seegene Inc.
DuPont Nutrition and Health