GeneSeek Partners With Researchers to Combat E. coli

Neogen Corporation

has announced that its GeneSeek subsidiary is a participant in USDA-funded research that seeks to better understand the role cattle genetics may play in food contamination by the pathogen E. coli O157:H7. GeneSeek is considered the leading commercial agricultural genetics laboratory in the United States. Researchers have shown that while some cows have no E. coli O157:H7 in their systems, others present a greater risk for beef contamination by shedding higher concentrations of the pathogen in their feces. The existence of the pathogen does not cause illness in cattle, but E. coli O157:H7 is a significant cause of foodborne illness in humans.