SensNews November 2018

Sensor100 November 2018 10 Agriculture and Food Sensors in Food and Agriculture 2018 Max Grell, Imperial College Depart- ment of Bioengineering Winner of the Poster Competition “Metallized Fabrics for DNA Sensing of Johne’s Disease” Portable Aptamer Based Sensor forToxin Detection Aptamers are perfectly suited for PoC devices where specific characteristics are needed for the device to function due to their tuneable function and low pro- duction costs (Song 2012). HereYang, et al present a method for rapid, low-cost detection of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a potent carcinogen, mutagen which is produced by certain strains of the Aspergillus fungi and can be found in most grains (Foster 2001). With the rapid development of economies and improvement of living conditions, food safety has become an important issue today. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) produced mainly by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, exists in various kinds of food (bread, pastry, cake) and feedstuff products (such as maize, groundnut, and peas). The most toxic and carcinogenic among the major species of concern afla- toxins is AFB1.The long-term exposure to AFB1 may lead to severe liver-related disease in human beings and animals (Yilmaz 2018). In this paper a portable aptasensor was constructed for the on-site detection of AFB1 in food matrixes. In such an assay protocol, the target could trigger the DNA walker autonomously moving on the electrode surface, propelled by uni- directional Pb2+-specific DNAzyme digestion, which could amplify the signal and separate the signal probe as well for further quantification by the PGM. Press Release Aptamer Group 9 August