A team of scientists from the United States and Europe has developed a portable, inexpensive device that can quickly and easily screen freshly caught shellfish for toxins that cause diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP).
DSP is caused by eating shellfish like mussels, oysters, scallops and clams, among others, that have accumulated okadaic acid (OA) or related marine toxins.
Algal blooms – commonly referred to as “red tides” – can produce these substances, which shellfish can accumulate through filter feeding.
Because cooking the shellfish does not destroy the toxins, several regulations are in place to prevent the sale and consumption of tainted shellfish.
To comply with these regulations, the current practice is to send samples to labs that use expensive, technically intense and slow tests.
Waqass Jawaid and colleagues set out to develop an inexpensive, easy-to-use and portable device that maintained the rigorous testing standards of off-site labs but could quickly test shellfish on boats and at other remote locations.
The researchers adapted a test called a lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA), which is like a home pregnancy test strip.
This LFIA combines simple test procedures with an antibody previously shown to specifically bind to three OA toxins.
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