Johanna Björkroth says: “Microbial food spoilage is a major challenge for all food business operators manufacturing perishable foods. It is generally estimated that around 30% of manufactured food is spoiled, mainly because of microbes. Currently, the food industry has to rely on unspecific tools while setting shelf lives for perishable food items. My aim is to develop biotechnological tools allowing from one point of analysis 1) the estimation of how fresh the food is and 2) the prediction of what the remaining shelf life is. None of the current methods allow this, and a new way to conceptualize food spoilage is needed. I am convinced that it is possible to detect recurrent gene expression patterns taking place in all spoilage microbiomes under the selective pressures of cold and the common packaging systems. From the fundamental microbiome research results, I will build intelligent testbeds employing artificial intelligence, recognizing gene expression markers reporting how close to spoilage the food is.”