Color read by data
We accumulate color changes as data, and AI learns from that data to predict the outcome. Machine learning and image analysis make discrimination possible beyond the human eye.
NRF project · 2025–2028
DANKOOK UNIVERSITY · FOOD·NANOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING LAB
Food safety,
without the wait.
Department of Food Engineering, Dankook University
SCROLL
THE VALUE WE BUILD
Valuable information has always
belonged to institutions.
Now that information
is reaching individuals.
What makes this possible
is technology.
We develop technologies
that make food safety information
available to everyone.
TODAY
Testing for foodborne pathogens today means waiting. Culture takes time, and PCR requires precise instruments that are hard to use in the field. Meanwhile, the food is already on its way to the table.
OUR APPROACH
We answer with color.
Whether gold nanoparticles aggregate or stay dispersed changes the color of the solution: a signal read by eye, without a dedicated reader. By separating target capture from color generation, we make the signal clearer.
We build detection on color, and prediction systems on color-change data.
- No readerColor change seen by eye
- 10 CFU/mLLevel of pathogen detection
- < 3 minSample preparation for complex foods
- 3 pathogensE. coli O157:H7 · Salmonella · Listeria
FROM LAB TO FIELD
From the lab to where food is.
Food debris blurs the signal. By combining sample preparation that filters out food and keeps only the bacteria with the color signal, we open the way to testing real foods as they are.
VegetablesSalad greens
MeatMeat · melon
Cheese brineCheese brine
MilkWhole milk
WaterTap water · lake water
WHAT'S NEXT
What we study is not
today's test, but tomorrow's safety.
FUNDED RESEARCH
Research already in motion.
With national research agencies, we are carrying out projects that bring our biosensors to the food industry.
2Ongoing projects
5Research projects
4Funding agencies
27Journal articles
2029Research continues through
PUBLISHED IN
Biosensors and Bioelectronics · ACS Applied Nano Materials · Nanoscale · Scientific Reports · Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety · Food Chemistry · Journal of Food Engineering · Journal of Food Science · The Analyst · Foods · Food Science and Biotechnology
2018202020222024202620282030
BEYOND MICROBES
What threatens the table
is not only microbes.
Allergens, heavy metals, food fraud — the hazards to check are growing in number and variety. On a single principle of answering with color, we change the target to prepare for all of them.
Foodborne pathogens
We detect E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and Listeria directly in real foods.
Allergens
Checking, before eating, whether undeclared allergenic ingredients are present.
Heavy metals
Identifying heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and mercury in water and food on site.
Food fraud
Telling genuine foods from those with substituted origins or ingredients, from the consumer's side.
Mycotoxins
Flagging, during distribution, the risk of mycotoxins, which grows with climate change.
Hazardous substances
Building on basic research on reducing hazardous substances in food, we are extending into technologies that detect them.
NIFDS · 2018–2021
By changing the recognition element that identifies the target, the same color readout extends to other hazards.
WHY IT MATTERS
Food Security.
Climate change is adding to the threats to food, supply chains are growing longer, and our tables are connected to the world. The food safety we need is not information known only to institutions, but information anyone can check on the spot.