Guaranteeing the availability of halal products in Indonesia, especially food products, is important considering that the majority of Indonesia’s population is Muslim. One of the efforts to ensure the halalness of food products is to test the ingredients contained in them. To support this effort, the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia (FTUI) through the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Unit has developed food and beverage halal testing using the 12gC magLEAD tool.
MagLEAD 12gC can extract nucleic acid (DNA) quickly, precisely, and affordably. This tool is capable of extracting nucleic acids from any sample including detecting the presence of pig DNA. Magnetic bead extractions can provide more efficient nucleic acid healing. In addition, this tool’s reagent cartridges and in-tip extractions can minimize plastic and reagent waste and reduce contamination.
Dean of FTUI, Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, ST., M.Eng., IPU, said that magLEAD 12gC was a grant from Precision System Science (PSS) Co., Ltd., Japan. This grant is a follow-up to the collaborative development with Japanese industrial partners which was carried out by the FTUI delegation in November 2022.
“In the future, there will be a lot of research potential by utilizing magLEAD 12gC. FTUI also plans to develop halal testing for food and beverage products as part of the Engineering Entrepreneurship program,” said Prof. Harry.
The magLEAD 12gC instrument comes from Magtration® technology which has been used in more than 10,000 instruments worldwide. According to a representative from Precision System Science (PSS) Co., Ltd., Hirao Yuki, this tool can extract nucleic acids from any sample. DNA and RNA can be extracted within 30 minutes with a new extraction chemical, MagDEA Dx.
With the amplification method, magLEAD 12gC can facilitate the development of PCR (Polymerse Chain Reaction), LAMP (Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification), SmartAmp (Smart Amplification Process), NASBA (Nucleic Acid Sequence-based Amplification), and RPA (Recombinase Polymerase Amplification) innovations. through the process of DNA extraction.
After a coordination process with PSS Japan and PT ITS Science Indonesia, currently, magLEAD 12gC has been installed in the FTUI i-CELL Building. With this tool, it is hoped that the Entrepreneurial and Innovation Unit of FTUI and researchers within FTUI can focus on developing innovations in testing halal food and beverages.
“Soon, we hope that FTUI will be able to work with industry parties who are interested in testing the halal food and beverage products they produce,” said Dr. Muhammad Sahlan, S.Si, M.Eng. as Head of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Unit FTUI.
The awarding of this grant was carried out at the FTUI i-CELL Building, last Monday (16/01) and was attended by Prof. Masafumi Yohda (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology), Rizal Achmadi (Country Manager of PT. ITS Science Indonesia), researchers from the Research Center for Biomedical Engineering (RCBE), and FTUI laboratory assistants. Apart from awarding grants, on that occasion, PT ITS Science Indonesia as the tool distributor also provided training on the use of magLEAD 12gC to researchers and laboratory assistants.
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Bureau of Public Communications
Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia