Neogen is an international food safety company that provides test kits and relevant products to detect pathogenic organisms in food. We produce molecular test kits for microbiological testing.
When conducting a molecular assay for the detection of microorganisms, there is often non-cellular free target nucleic acid present in the sample. This undesired free target nucleic acid may be present in the form of free DNA/RNA or in the form of non-viable (dead) cells that are permeable or non-permeable. These DNA/RNA may confound the final result of a molecular test, as they are not indicative of the presence of a microorganism that can survive to cause disease.
Before conducting our molecular assay, we must thus remove the the non-cell associated nucleic acid (free or from dead cells). (For this specific molecular test, we are only interested in measuring the presence of live microorganisms from the sample.)
There are several existing solutions to do this, but none meet our current requirements. Specifically, we seek a step that does not result in too much loss of sample (analyte) or dilution and offers a user friendly workflow (not demanding in terms of requiring large equipment, reagents or time, etc.)
Neogen is seeking methodologies and/or equipment that eliminate the nucleic acids of non-living cells within a sample in a simple and timely workflow.
We believe we’re all in this together. Our partnerships with universities and other organizations — some new, some decades-long — make us and our industries stronger. Our company was born in 1982 of collaboration between academic innovations coming from Michigan State University and industry partners, and that theme has carried us into today.
Some of our most valuable partnerships have led to technological innovations that have benefitted food and animal safety on a large scale, like our 20+ years of work with the University of Nebraska’s Food Allergy Research and Resource Program. We work with representatives from many spheres — academic, public and private — to use research to strengthen our industries together.
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