Scientists at Mainz University develop a novel screening
procedure for accurately determining the amount of animal, plant, and microbial
substances in foods
Almost all foodstuffs contain the genetic material of those
animal and plant species that were used in their preparation. Scientists at the
Institute of Molecular Genetics, Genetic Security Research and Consulting at
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have developed a novel screening
procedure that provides for highly sensitive, quantifiable analysis of animal,
plant, and microbial substances present in foodstuffs. For this, the
researchers have adapted the latest techniques of DNA sequencing, which are
otherwise currently employed in human genetics to unravel the genetic information
of thousands of patients.
"The innovative aspect in comparison with conventional
DNA detection methods such as polymerase chain reaction, or PCR for short, is
that by means of bioinformatic analysis of all biological DNA data available
worldwide we can identify the presence of material from species that we would
not otherwise expect.