15 November 2024
Gut microbiome trials
Engagement Opportunity: Facilitating predictive screening of food substrates prior to costly animal trials
Photo credit: Panuwat Dangsungnoen/istockphoto.com
Technology
- This ex vivo model of the human distal colon reliably mimics and predicts the impact that various food substrates are likely to have on the gut microbiome.
- This may help food industries better predict the impact of such foods in downstream clinical trials, essentially improving screening prior to investing in costly animal trials.
Unique Selling Propositions
- Overcomes occasional reliability issue associated with the micro-Matrix bioreactor platform as an ex vivo model of the human distal colon.
- Tackles the undesirable phenomenon of blooms of one genus or species, e.g. E. coli, which can interfere with accurate analysis of the predictive effects of various food substrates on the gut microbiome.
- Bridges the gap between ex vivo models and real life in vivo physiological situations.
Development stage
- An optimised Faecal Fermentation Media composition for conducting such ex vivo distal colon model experiments has been developed.
Opportunity to engage
We welcome engagement from the following industries:
- Food manufacturers screening test substrates in-house.
- Companies providing such services to food companies.
Research funding
Food for Health Ireland NEUROFOODS, funded by Enterprise Ireland and the Horizon 2020 programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant, agreement no. 847402.
Teagasc PI: Paul Cotter, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark.
For further information or to discuss, please contact Miriam Walsh: engage@teagasc.ie or miriam.walsh@teagasc.ie
For more opportunities to engage with Teagasc, click on the link below.