Genetics and microbiology of meat

Abstract

Detection, reduction, and public health monitoring of foodborne pathogens has advanced in precision and efficiency as technology has progressed. Here, we look back on the evolution of food safety management and public health, and attempt to provide a view of how the technology and tools have changed, and how emerging technologies and tools may impact how we manage food safety and public health in the future. With the revolution of gene editing techniques (e.g. CRISPR-Cas9, etc.), Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and "omics"-based technologies, along with the bioinformatics tools that go with them, we now have a very new array of tools that can impact foodborne disease management. In addition to overall improvement in food safety, these tools have helped understand antibiotic resistance and virulence factors in meat to a higher degree than ever before. These technological advancements will allow food safety to move beyond strain-level characterization and control of pathogens to pinpointing genes of public health concern.

Keywords: Food safety; Gene editing; Metagenomics; Next generation sequencing; Whole genome sequencing.