Bacteria-Hunting Kit Aims to Spot Food Hazards Earlier

The Fellowship  |  April 23, 2019

Millions of people get sick from food-borne illnesses per year in the U.S., but an Israeli startup is trying to change this reality:

Israeli startup Yarok Microbio says it has developed a way to identify life-threatening bacteria in as little as under an hour, before the food products they could be lurking in get sold…

The system utilizes off-the-shelf equipment including microscopes and computers, making the method cost-competitive, Sierra said.

Biochemical reagents developed by the startup are applied to samples, intensifying the cellular metabolism of the specific bacteria, which are then highlighted by fluorescent markers. The AI-driven software analyzes the digital images of the samples and is able to detect the presence of the targeted live dangerous bacteria, Sierra said.