Primary Investigator:
Dr. Bhushan Jayarao
Contributing Investigators:
David R. Wolfgang, C.D. Keating, Robert J. Van Saun, Ernest Hovingh
Project Description:
Use nanobar technologies to trace commodities for contamination and/or purity.
Objectives:
Nanobarcodes
particles consist of cylindrical shaped metal nanoparticles,
approximately 5 microns long and 300 nanometres in diameter. The
particles themselves have stripes containing different metals such as
platinum, gold, silver and nickel. The width and composition of the
stripes can be varied similarly to conventional bar codes to provide
individual tags. They can be read using an optical microscope also in a
similar manner to conventional bar codes. This technology is suitable
for multiplexing, or the simultaneous analysis of large numbers of
biological samples. The detection of a BSE cow in the United States has
resulted in a cascade of policy changes to how animal by products such
as meat and bone meal are handled and processed. This has created new
challenges to animal agriculture in Pennsylvania and will have serious
long term effects on the animal agriculture and animal feed industry
not only in Pennsylvania but the whole of United States. To ensure
proper use of rendered products, the first step would be to have a
reliable technology to trace the products. In this study we propose to
develop, optimize and implement nanbarcode technology for monitoring
and tracking meat and bone meal consignments. This would allow the
state and federal agencies to maintain records and have the unique
ability to track and trace consignments of animal rendered by products.
