They reported their laboratory results in the June issue of the Journal of Food Protection. This could provide us a system that has not existed before. Liu and Blaschek have presented their findings to meat processors, who in turn have expressed an interest in their method. Most other systems can recognize multiple organisms, but they can produce false readings because of contamination of the sample or misinterpretation of the material present in a sample. The research began under an Army grant with the goal of developing a technique to identify mutants of the bacterium, which were suspected as a component of biological warfare during the Gulf War.
Gas gangrene can occur in and worsen deep-tissue wounds.
When funding for the grant ended, the researchers continued their work, with university support, looking at the problem as a food-safety issue. Liu and Blaschek have begun adapting their technique for testing meat products. They hope that with minor modifications it also could quickly detect other food-borne toxins.