Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) and botulinum toxin A (BotA) are common causes of food poisoning in humans and pose high risk as potential biological warfare agents. In a study published in the September issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, researchers used the Naval Research Laboratory array biosensor to detect for the presence of SEB and BotA in canned tomatoes, sweet corn, green beans, mushrooms and tuna which were spiked with both toxins and left at room temperature for two hours. The biosensor was capable of rapidly and simultaneously identifying both toxins in complex food matrices. According to the researchers,

"The ability to carry out multianalyte detection in complex samples is a clear advantage for screening food, water, or air samples for hazards either naturally occurring or deliberately introduced."

Read the article's abstract here (subscription required to read full article). Click here for more informaiton about the array biosensor.

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