7. Automation of FISH analysis
Since the high-throughput of samples is imperative for routine
testing of food products, the use of automated or semi-automated
systems is becoming more and more important for all detection
methods. Automation of FISH could be achieved by establishing a
modular composed system able to independently execute the
whole FISH procedure. This requires first the module sample pretreatment, including the isolation of bacteria, second, the module
sample processing, comprising fixation, permeabilisation and hybridization on a slide or in liquids and, third, the sample read-out
by automated microscopy or in a flow cytometer, the subsequent
documentation and data interpretation. Unfortunately, a system
embracing all these tasks and generally adapted to various kinds of
food matrices in a fully human-independent fashion has not yet
been developed, but encouraging approaches for each module
already exist