The Nanoarchitectonics Research Center (Director: Toshimi Shimizu) of the AIST has developed the first-ever, rapid method for accurate detection of verotoxin from Escherichia coli O-157. The research was conducted in collaboration with the Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST; President: Masahiro Kawasaki) and with further support provided by groups from the School of Engineering, Nagoya University and Gifu Pharmaceutical University.

The research group discovered that verotoxin in the body binds strongly to specific sugar chains that are found in large quantities in kidney cells. The group then successfully developed a quartz-crystal oscillator that binds and detects verotoxin. The results of the research showed that the system can detect as little as a few nanograms (10-9) of bound verotoxin.

This method shows promise for future applications, as test laboratories will not run the risk of sample contamination from bacterial cultures used as reference standards, nor will they have to spend several days culturing samples before obtaining results, a process which lasts longer than the dormancy period of E. coli O-157 food poisoning.