UC Merced Undergraduate Research Journal

Although it is essentially impossible to prevent any entity that was previously exposed to the environment from microorganismal colonization, most complex organisms have long been accustomed to both their existence and abundance. In fact, humans and nearly all the components of the immune system evolved in response to their coexistence to microorganisms (Janeway et. al, 2001). The majority of the effects they have on human health are relatively mild due to the repeated exposure we have been succumbed to over the course of humanity. However, there are particular subsets of contaminants that are the culprit of an unwanted and unfair phenomenon: foodborne illness. These pathogens that are responsible pose as a serious threat to the human population and have so for many years.