New bacteria-detecting scanner arrives in New Zealand

A scanner for detecting harmful strains of bacteria, described as a ‘game changer’ for the global food industry, has been sent to New Zealand for testing.

The BEAM scanner, developed at Purdue University, US, has now been sent to associate professor and taxonomy expert Dr Stephen On at Lincoln University, New Zealand,  and is the only device of its kind outside the US.

On received a grant of $80,000 from the New Zealand Royal Society Te Apārangi to test the scanner in a local-focused research project in order to complement the work currently being carried out by food safety scientists in the US.

The BEAM device is designed to identify disease outbreaks by providing a ‘specific fingerprint’ of bacteria cultured in On’s laboratory, allowing scientists to more quickly recognise pathogens.

On said: “If there’s an outbreak of E. coli or Salmonella, for example, you may have dozens of samples to examine. The technology provides the major advantage of identifying the pathogen of concern by rapidly screening it from microorganisms naturally present in food or clinical samples. Because it’s non-invasive, you can take your isolate of interest and further characterise it with sub-typing methodologies to better identify an outbreak. No comparable technology is available elsewhere —it’s a game-changer.”

A spokesperson from Lincoln University added that the results will be pooled for ‘maximum global impact’.

In 2015, On visited Purdue University to determine whether the BEAM scanner could be effective in New Zealand, and found that the research involved 26 pathogenic E.coli strains that are relevant to his country’s meat products.

“They showed the potential value of BEAM to national problems and indicated that the method might be capable of identifying E. coli strains with a higher infection potential than others,” said On. “This is a first in the history of underpinning BEAM research.”

On formed a partnership with Endowed Cytometry professor J Paul Robinson and US Department of Agriculture senior national programme leader Professor James Lindsay, who sent the scanner to New Zealand for On’s project. On will focus on a geographically diverse range of strains of bacteria that are of importance to the US and New Zealand.

He noted that the significance of detecting pathogenic E.coli was particularly important to the public health, as well as the national economy. The New Zealand Food Safety and Science Research Centre has already identified notable bacterial pathogens such as campylobacter and listeria.