The assessment will allow immediate detection of the amount of pesticide residues in food and drinking water
Infigo Diagnostics, an Israeli company operating as part of the Targettech incubator in Netanya, is developing an effective, simple and immediate device for the identification and quantitative measurement of pesticide residues or toxins in food and drinking water. The company has developed a technological platform for the diagnostics of small molecules, based on Molecular Imprinted Polymers (MIP), which will be used to develop quick and easy-to-use detection kits. The kit presents a quantitative measurement of pesticide residues or toxins. The test is performed by dripping the tested sample into a test kit, similar to home pregnancy test kits, and within a few minutes a quantitative result of the presence of the tested substance is obtained.
In recent times, investigations have been published, revealing the excessive use of pesticides in food production, the results of which are dangerous to health. Residues of pesticides and chemicals in vegetables, fruits and field crops were found in dangerous amounts in food sold in marketing chains, as well as in sources of drinking water. A large part of those pollutants may also be found in the drinking water used to wash the food before eating it. In an investigation broadcast this month on the news edition, it was shown that a high amount of phosphorus was discovered in the blood of those who regularly consume sprayed vegetables, which can cause cancer.
Following the recently revealed investigations, awareness of the damage of pesticide residues in food and the need to monitor the amounts of chemicals in sprayed food has increased. However, the main problem lies in the fact that the supervision of the quality of food and drinking water is in the hands of government authorities, who randomly sample the goods and send them for laboratory tests. This is a cumbersome and long procedure, which does not give an immediate reading or an exact answer, and the laboratory results are received only a few days later.
Molecular imprinting technology has been around for over twenty years, but only in recent years has it been used to develop products for various uses. The chemical identification method is based on the ring of the molecule being tested with synthetic polymers, so that unique recognition sites are created and a kind of plastic imitation of antibodies (antibody mimic) is obtained. The result is measured by the intensity of the color, which is obtained in response to the presence of the tested substance in the sample. The scientific basis behind the platform was successfully tested during the development of a method to identify the antibiotic chloramphenicol.
The CEO of Infigo Diagnostics, Ido Margalit, targets the development of similar kits for a variety of tests that require the monitoring of small molecules: such as the identification and measurement of biomarkers, which are molecules whose quantity in the body indicates a certain clinical condition, the detection of drug residues in milk products, the detection of hallucinogens and the detection of substances related to chemical or biological warfare.
