Food-poisoning, finito
New research could mean the end of dodgy chicken dinners.
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Hawke’s Bay
New Australian research could stop food-poisoning in its vomitous tracks.
Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics Dr Christopher Day’s research targets campylobacter, one of the most common cause of bacterial food-borne illnesses.
More than half the raw chicken in the US market contains campylobacter, and more than two million Americans become sick every year after eating contaminated meat.
The research makes use of glycans, sugar molecules which coat every cell in the human body.
Dr Day said campylobacter infection depended on the bacteria recognising and binding to the gastrointestinal tract. “Glycans plays a large role in this recognition.”
Technology was used to identify four classes of glycans that appeared to be crucial in both initial and continued infection.
Campylobacter cannot infect if glycans are blocked, or they are binding to decoy glycans. Breast milk has been particularly effective in this area.
“The glycans found in human breast milk have been found to be highly protective against infection of a number of gastrointestinal pathogens, both viral and bacterial.”
The Griffith Institute intends to develop the discovery into an effective treatment for infected patients by imitating this natural protection.
The research will also help to develop a compound that could be added to feed or water for chickens. This would aim to help decrease the number of bacteria living in their digestive tracts.
“It’s estimated that even a 75 per cent reduction in campylobacter numbers in a chicken would reduce the chances of getting an infectious dose of the organism from raw chicken meat to practically zero.”
Dr Day said his findings would also encourage further research into finding a means to reduce or completely eliminate the pathogen from poultry.
Charlotte Woodfield
Thu, 17 Mar 2011
Thu, 17 Mar 2011
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Food-poisoning, finito
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