ABSTRACT
There is a growing demand for quick and precise diagnosis of foodborne pathogens (FBP) in order to control and avert human foodborne illness. Nucleic acid-based technique (NABT) offers sensitive detection by rapidly amplifying the target gene to millions of copies. Though the conventional NABT such as PCR, qPCR for specific detection of FBP are comparatively rapid but have obvious drawbacks of requiring trained personnel and expensive instruments, impeding their application in on-site and poor resource settings. Related NABT based on isothermal amplification such as LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification), NABSA, RCA, etc., coupled with compatible sample preparation to detection steps and fully integrated with a microfluidic platform can offer a swift, low-cost, and portable solution for foodborne pathogen detection with minimal infrastructure and manpower requirements. This chapter discusses isothermal NABT along with simple sample pre-treatment and colorimetric detection steps and the role of microfluidics in designing such sample-to-answer devices for achieving the wider acceptance of rapid and point-of-need testing for FBP.
