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DNA Analysis – Fast and Portable Methods

Tuition fee €25 one-time

25€ (excluding VAT)

More information

eitfood.eu/..sis-fast-and-portable-methods 

Overview

This training will be delivered on the 15th and 16th of December 2022

There is a need to strengthen the efforts in controlling the authenticity of food products to recover the consumer´s trust. This training in portable DNA analysis will introduce participants to innovative rapid and portable DNA analysis tools for species and ingredients verification. These tools can be relatively easily implemented in routine analysis to verify products’ authenticity.
The training will have an applied orientation exploring both general innovative technical aspects through lectures, together with practical work.
Topics will include DNA extraction and DNA analysis techniques, including DNA amplification and detection and DNA sequencing, and knowledge in sequence analysis.
It is directed to Professionals involved in quality control of products from industries or control laboratories with no experience in DNA analysis .

Becoming familiar with rapid and portable DNA analysis methods will help you to gain knowledge and experience in DNA analysis and food fraud control methods. It will help improve authenticity evaluation skills at industry, retail, or control laboratories.
This training aims to empower you to implement rapid DNA analysis portable methods for routine analysis in quality control and authenticity verification, therefore helping you to contribute to fight food fraud.
These trainings would allow participants to study the potential of the studied technologies and learn the criteria to determine which food sensing DNA portable systems could be more suitable for their respective routine activities.The proposed activity would provide the opportunity to share professional experiences and concerns, as well as encourage multilateral cooperation and enhance partnership. It will help to bridge the challenging gap between research and industry, as well as to overcome possible technical barriers for implementation of innovative food sensing technologies.
This training brings together professionals with a strong background in DNA analysis from different countries: from AZTI (Spain), CSIC (Spain), INL (Portugal) and Matis (Iceland).

Programme structure

The complexity of the food supply chains has made them highly vulnerable to food fraud, leading to a drop in consumer trust and a demand for transparent traceability systems. To overcome this issue, implementing routine analytical methods for food products, together with the digitalisation of the obtained data within traceability systems, is crucial. In this sense, implementing rapid and portable DNA analysis tools to verify authenticity would be extremely helpful.
To encourage this implementation as routine analysis, we propose this training focusing on portable and fast DNA analysis methods for food products to improve authenticity evaluation skills from professionals at industry, retail, or control laboratories. These activities would cover from a quick overview of the basics of genetic analysis applied to food authenticity to practical demos in which easy-to-use, cost-effective technologies would be used.
At the end of the professional development trainings, participants will have gained:
• A better understanding of food fraud
• An overview of state-of-the-art DNA analytical tools to tackle food fraud
• A holistic view of available portable DNA analysis technologies
• Improve skills in DNA-based analysis
• A better understanding of common principles and technical implementation requirements
• Criteria for choosing which methods are more suitable for their needs and expectations
• Skills in how to integrate derived information in traceability systems through digital technologies
• Understanding of the strengths, weaknesses and limitations of available methods for detecting food fraud and confirming food authenticity

Career opportunities

This training will boost technology management capabilities by improving the ability to use emerging technologies related to DNA analysis, enhancing the competitiveness of your food industry and contributing to a better control of traceability and authenticity in food systems.
This training will encourage you to implement new analytical systems and create new laboratory control lines. It will contribute to the development and implementation of new solutions, having a direct impact in the problem solving and critical thinking capability related to food authenticity management.

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