GATC Biotech, in collaboration with researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, is developing a sequencing-based method to characterize microbial communities in food production, the German genomics service provider said last week.
Specifically, the project, called Metatxn and funded with approximately €120,000 ($175,000) from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, will study the spoilage of cheese in industrial production, with the aim of better understanding food spoilage in general.
The project will involve several sequencing technologies, including Pacific Biosciences' PacBio RS.
With the project, GATC Biotech, based in Constance, seeks to establish new methods for food quality assurance that will be applicable to several kinds of industrial feed or food production processes.