An easy-to-use biosensor that can detect damaging toxins in seafood is expected to change the aquaculture industry. The man behind it all is Dr Balam Jimenez, a researcher at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University in Wellington, and it was his Whakatōhea-Mexican daughter Hinemoana who inspired him.
“When my daughter was a year old, we were planning to get some pipi so she could try them. But she couldn’t because there was an E. coli outbreak.
“I realised that a lot of the seafood that I grew up with on the coast of Mexico is not accessible ... and that’s because there are toxins and waste contaminants.”
When Jimenez saw similar closures and shellfish bans appearing in New Zealand, he wanted to do something about it.
He has now developed research using short single strands of synthetic DNA and RNA (or nucleic acids) that bind to a specific target - in this case, small amounts of toxin.