Cornell and IBM have announced a joint research project that will use genetic sequencing and big-data analyses to help keep the global milk supply safe. With the application of metagenomics and analytics to food safety, the partnership aims to minimize the chance that hazardous food will reach consumers, prevent food fraud, and reduce spoilage.
Researchers will collect genetic data from the microbiome of raw milk samples in a “real-world” scenario at a Cornell farm and the Cornell Dairy Processing Plant in Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell’s resources are unique in that they represent the full dairy supply chain—from farm to processing to consumer. This initial data collection will form a raw-milk baseline and be used to expand IBM’s Consortium for Sequencing the Food Supply Chain bioinformatic analytical tools.
The consortium was officially launched in January 2015 by IBM Research and Mars Inc. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. a global provider of life science research and clinical diagnostic products, joined the consortium in 2016. With this new dairy project, Cornell has become the first academic institution to join the consortium. It is the largest-ever metagenomics study to categorize and understand microorganisms and the factors that influence their activity in a normal, safe environment.
“As nature’s most perfect food, milk is an excellent model for studying the genetics of food,” said Martin Wiedmann, the Gellert Family Professor in Food Safety and Cornell Institute for Food Systems faculty fellow. “As a leader in genomics research, the Department of Food Science expects this research collaboration with IBM will lead to exciting opportunities to apply findings to multiple food products in locations worldwide.”