TwistDx’s RPA Transforms Food Safety

Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA) has the potential to transform food testing and safety. Often nucleic acid testing requires sample clean up to remove inhibitors released during preparation of the sample for analysis. RPA, has been shown to require minimal clean up (sometimes none) post DNA/RNA extraction, thereby simplifying the workflow for testing. Furthermore, RPA operates at a constant low temperature, takes less than 10 minutes to produce a result, and achieves the same sensitivity and specificity as polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

As such, in the laboratory, RPA can enable rapid and highly accurate testing of samples. Additionally, RPA has the potential to provide immediate results at the point-of-need, through a hand-held device, by on-site operators without expert knowledge of sample testing.

RPA can transform the testing process by replacing existing PCR assays to provide results in minutes, with fewer sample processing steps. RPA will enable swift decisions to be made, allowing for immediate, informed intervention, and improving food safety.

TwistDx™ has developed a range of research and development use-RPA kits. Presented at different development stages, these test-ready kits showcase example RPA reagent formats and versatility with assays for prominent food pathogen targets (Salmonella, Listeria and Campylobacter). To date there are over 250 peer-reviewed publications on RPA and these can all be accessed–either in full or abstract form–on the TwistDx website.

Within these publications, researchers have shown RPA to be an effective method of testing for many food pathogens including species of Crohnobacter, Salmonella, Listeria, Vibrio, and some strains of Escherichia coli.[1,2,3,4,5,6] Additionally, researchers have adapted RPA to detect common allergens such as hazelnut, peanut, lupin, soybean, tomato,and maize.[2,7]