Meeting Abstract
With increased international trade of fresh commodities, there is a greater risk of introducing pest species to the United States. As countries move away from methyl bromide fumigation as a phytosanitary treatment to disinfest commodities, radiation provides an environmentally friendly alternative. However, unlike chemicals, radiation results in live insects arriving at a port of entry. Although these insects are sterile, and will likely die within a couple of days, there is a strong need for a simple, fast, accurate diagnostic test to confirm that these insects have been irradiated. Research shows potential applications for the use of Raman spectroscopy based detection of irradiation in honey, cells and DNA; and it has been developed for biomedical diagnosis of skin cancers. As Raman techniques result in a molecular “fingerprint”, results can also point to other potential biological differences that could be exploited as irradiation biomarkers. Here, using Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa, we report on our research into whether Raman spectroscopy techniques can be used to identify irradiated insects.
