Marine Biotoxins
Marine biotoxins, e.g. ciguatoxin, brevetoxins, saxitoxin, tetrodotoxin, ect. Are present in our daily life. Most of us assume they will not encounter these toxins unless one is accidentally exposed during our holidays in the caribbean, asia-pacific, indo-pacific and pacific regions when consuming seafood. However, seafood consumption has increased tremendously over the past decades such that seafood caught in regions endemic for marine biotoxins are also exported e.g. to the European mainland. Rigorous testing using LC-MS/MS demands toxin standards for the marine parent biotoxins as well as their numerous metabolites and highly sophisticated analytical capabilities that is difficult to reconcile with a high throughput that is demanded for perishable goods intended for rapid distribution and sale. Thus new rapid and reliable in vitro technology is required for functional determination of the presence of marine biotoxins in shellfish and fish flesh.