Univ California–Agilent: grant, 201012– Thought Leader Award research funding + equipment donation >$1.5m Prof Kinde UC Davis School of Vet Medicine

	Period	2010-12-08
	Region	Davis, CA
	Country	United States (USA)
	Money taker	University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine
	Group	University of California (System)
	Money source	Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A)
	Group	Agilent (Group)
	Product	MassCode PCR technology
	Product 2	food analysis (food testing)
	Index term 2	Agilent–Univ California: MassCode PCR technology, 201012– collab development to identify food-borne bacteria UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
	Person	Kinde, Hailu (UC Davis 201012 Professor School of Medicine)

Agilent Technologies Inc.. (12/8/10). "Press Release: Agilent Technologies Collaborates with UC Davis on Breakthrough Food-safety Research. Technology Aims to Revolutionize Food Safety by Reducing Identification Time of Food-borne Bacteria Such as Salmon

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced it is collaborating with the University of California, Davis in the area of food safety. The research collaboration will focus on the development of a new process that can reduce the time required to identify food-borne pathogens from several days to only a few hours.

Agilent and UC Davis will develop MassCode PCR technology. This technology integrates mass-tagged PCR primers for amplification and Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometery for the rapid identification of Salmonella serovar subtypes as well as other food-borne pathogens.

The technology combines the sensitivity and specificity advantages of PCR, with the partial automation of LC/MS, and the sensitivity of detection of the mass spectrometer. The mass tags are small organic molecules coupled to the PCR primers, which provide two unique identifiers per target--like a dual barcode per target. These only appear in the MS analysis if the target was specifically and successfully amplified. By having two confirming signals per target, the likelihood of false positives is significantly decreased.

"The techniques currently used to identify specific types of Salmonella were developed in the previous century," said Dr. Hailu Kinde, professor at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System. "They require a number of complex laboratory procedures, which are often laborious and can take up to a week to complete. In this era when food can be distributed across the globe in less than a day, it is critical that we have better tools to quickly identify the source of contamination before it spreads into the food supply. This exciting new project is a giant step toward reducing the time it takes to get test results and will make our food safer."

The technology could revolutionize food safety by reducing the time it takes to identify the source of food-borne outbreaks from several days to only a few hours. Achieving rapid results enables more effective containment of outbreaks. On a global level, the technology will provide expanded testing to target specific bacteria and remove implicated food items intended for human consumption.

"Integrating PCR techniques and genomics with mass tagging for the detection and characterization of disease-causing bacteria will leverage Agilent's state-of-the-art equipment and UC Davis' scientific expertise and resources," said Paul Zavitsanos, Agilent's worldwide food program manager. "This process marks the beginning of a long-term collaboration between UC Davis and Agilent Technologies in the arena of food safety, with our shared goal of advancing science and technology to benefit society."

To underscore Agilent's support of the joint endeavor, Professor Hailu Kinde of the School of Veterinary Medicine received an Agilent Thought Leader Award, including unrestricted research funding and a donation of equipment with an aggregate value of more than $1.5 million in support of the school's food safety research programs.

Agilent's Thought Leader Program promotes fundamental advances in the life sciences by contributing financial support, products and/or expertise to the research of influential thought leaders.

About UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine

The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine provides statewide teaching, research and service programs benefiting animal health, public health and environmental health in California and beyond. At the teaching hospital, faculty and highly trained staff treat 32,000 patients each year while teaching essential veterinary skills to students and training specialists in the largest veterinary residency program in the nation.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is the world's premier measurement company and a technology leader in chemical analysis, life sciences, electronics and communications. The company's 18,500 employees serve customers in more than 100 countries. Agilent had net revenues of $5.4 billion in fiscal 2010. Information about Agilent is available at www.agilent.com.

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For images related to this press release, please visit the ImageLibrary (Image #163)

Contact:

Eric Endicott
+1 408 553 2005
eric_endicott@agilent.com

Record changed: 2011-11-25

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Univ California–Agilent: grant, 201012– Thought Leader Award research funding + equipment donation >$1.5m Prof Kinde UC Davis School of Vet Medicine

Agilent Technologies Inc.. (12/8/10). "Press Release: Agilent Technologies Collaborates with UC Davis on Breakthrough Food-safety Research. Technology Aims to Revolutionize Food Safety by Reducing Identification Time of Food-borne Bacteria Such as Salmon

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