Molecular Biology: Molecular Biology in Microbiological Analysis

Foodborne pathogens are a concern for both public health officials and the food and dairy industries. To date, quality testing of foods has relied almost completely on conventional microbiological methods, which involve isolating and enumerating bacteria from food products on specialized microbiological media. These methods, while comprehensive, are both work intensive and time consuming, frequently yielding results only after several days. Developments in the fields of molecular biology offer the potential to develop rapid, high-throughput tests that will allow the food industry to make timely assessments on the microbiological safety of its food products. This article outlines recent developments in molecular biology and their current and future applications for detecting and identifying existing and emerging foodborne pathogens.