The project combines materials engineering, biological engineering and food microbiology. “We have taken materials and techniques from each of these disciplines and put them together to make a new material that is programmed to sense pathogens and undergo a response such as a change in appearance,” Elias says.
The project involves developing and combining three technologies: the stimulus-responsive polymer that makes up the smart material, the biological detection system and food microbiology. The research team has been programming the material to change color in the presence of disease-causing bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella or Listeria, as well as in response to temperature changes. The material responds by changing appearance, for example, from colored to white or from clear to cloudy. With the smart materials, food suppliers and even consumers will instantly be able to see if a product has been contaminated just by looking at the color of the packaging.