Aberdeen-based biotechnology company NCIMB is teaming up with innovative Newcastle University Spinout GitLife Biotech in a 12-month project that will investigate the therapeutic potential of gut microbes. The project aims to develop a new class of therapeutics based on living bacteria to prevent or treat disease. The work has been funded by Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
The human gut is home to millions of individual microorganisms, which make up what is known as the gut microbiome. In recent years there has been a huge leap in the understanding of the gut microbiome, the number of different species of bacteria within it, and the important role they have in human health. A healthy microbiome includes many different species of bacteria, and it is now understood that an imbalance in its make-up can be associated with poor health and a broad range of diseases.
As a result, people are becoming increasingly familiar with the idea of probiotics – in other words “good” bacteria that can have a positive impact on health. These can be consumed as supplements, or in foods such as yoghurts, kefir, sauerkraut, or kimchi. This transformation in the understanding of the importance of gut bacteria to health has also paved the way for the development of a new class of therapeutic treatments based on defined living bacteria.
NCIMB’s CEO Dr Edward Green
NCIMB Ltd is a long-established Aberdeen-based biotechnology company, that has been providing microbiology products and services to industry and academia for more than 40 years. Explaining more about the new collaborative project NCIMB’s CEO Dr Edward Green said: “The idea that bacteria can be used to improve human health is not new. Many of the antibiotics currently used to treat infections are produced by bacteria, and consumption of microbes in fermented foods and probiotics has become increasingly popular in recent years.
However, this project will take a different approach by focusing on specific bacterial species known to promote gut health. One of the project challenges is the need for well documented information relating to the microbial strain provenance and integrity, in other words, the ability to identify and track any changes to the microbe’s DNA. NCIMB’s project partners, GitLife Biotech, will bring an innovative approach to this, essentially barcoding the bacteria to create a transparent digital footprint. Their biosecurity platform captures and organises biological data, and links that data to the microbial strain."
Dr Green concluded: “We are delighted to have won this Innovate UK funding. Following our recent move to purpose-built laboratories, the grant supports new investment in R&D aligned to our large and proprietary microbial strain collection. In addition, the outputs will support our customers in the growing microbiome sector. Finding new ways of supporting gut microbiome health will lead to improved patient outcomes across a wide range of clinical situations. This is a field with huge potential for innovation and economic growth”.