Project Abstract

In many developing countries people depend on reasonably priced and conveniently available street food. However, lack of action taken by governments to regulate street food vendors has lead to the prevalence of severe street food-related illnesses. One of the primary microbial contaminants in street food is E. coli O157:H7, which acts by secreting Shiga-like toxin (SLT). Currently, there is no detection method for SLT outside of a lab setting, thus putting the consumers of foods at risk. Our project aims to develop a device that would remain in the stall or restaurant and be used by the vendors themselves to verify the safety of their food. Our device focuses on detecting the interaction between the Gb3 receptor, produced by E. coli Gb3 synthase, and the non-toxic component of SLT, Subunit B. The performance of SDS-PAGE will allow consumers to compare the migration patterns of Subunit B crosslinked with Gb3 to positive and negative controls and identify the presence of SLT.