IUCRC Phase I Texas A&M: Center for Environmental Sustainability through Insect Farming (CEIF)

该工业大学通过昆虫养殖（CEIF）实现环境可持续发展合作研究中心（IUCRC）是首个此类IUCRC，可支持超出目前可用的传统蛋白质来源的广泛营养需求。 按照目前的人口增长速度，传统农业将面临满足蛋白质需求的巨大压力。昆虫养殖可以增加动物和人类的食物供应。此外，在生产高价值蛋白质的同时修复农业废物的可持续且具有成本效益的方法对于生态系统和农业的长期健康至关重要。精选的昆虫可以吸收农业生态系统或城市环境中产生的废物，并将其转化为蛋白质和堆肥。工业界可以利用该中心创造的知识，进一步探索昆虫蛋白的用途，并获得适当的监管批准，作为人类和动物的食物。因此，昆虫养殖及其创新可以代表循环经济，减少土地和/或水的使用，减少温室气体排放。 昆虫养殖还可以缓解为食物和动物饲料生产蛋白质对海洋和农业资源造成的压力。通过昆虫养殖实现环境可持续发展中心（CEIF）将由三个地点组成（印第安纳州普渡大学印第安纳波利斯分校[IUPUI]、德克萨斯农工大学农业生命研究所[TAMU]和密西西比州立大学[MSU]），每个地点都专门从事特定的研究领域。 TAMU将作为该中心的牵头地点。这些研究中心将协同工作，为昆虫系统的遗传学/基因组学提供行业所需的基础研究，评估性状的遗传性，并确定遗传对性状的贡献，以便未来优化和大规模生产。 通过这项研究，新的知识和技术将填补与畜牧业和水产养殖生产昆虫养殖以及人类消费昆虫生产有关的关键科学和工业空白。实验室和实地实验也将涉及微生物学，工程，化学，食品营养，生理学和生物学的跨学科专业知识与尖端技术。TAMU将：1）优化用于食品或饲料的昆虫的大规模生产; 2）使用昆虫作为饲料进行试验（例如，家禽和水产养殖）;和3）制定战略，以最大限度地提高污染物的质量保证（预防）和控制（检测）（例如，病原体、重金属和毒素）。 TAMU将与其他研究中心合作，将三个研究中心的研究重点与IUPUI和MSU整合，重点是遗传学和微生物学。此外，这三个研究中心都将使用工业生产的菌株以及内部开发的菌株，以优化大规模生产。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Industry University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) for Environmental Sustainability through Insect Farming (CEIF) represents a first of its kind IUCRC to support broad nutritional needs that go beyond conventional protein sources currently available. At current rates of population growth, traditional agriculture will be under intense pressure to meet protein demands. Insect farming can increase the food supply for both animals and humans. In addition, sustainable and cost effective methods for remediating agricultural waste while producing high value protein is essential to the long term health of ecosystems and agriculture. Select insects can take waste, such as that produced in agro-ecosystems or urban environments, and convert it into protein and compost. Industry can utilize the knowledge created in the center to further explore the use of insect protein, with suitable regulatory approvals, as food for humans and animals. Thus, insect-farming and its innovations could represent a circular economy, which reduces land and/or water use and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Insect farming may also relieve the stress imposed on marine and agricultural resources to generate protein for food and animal feed. The Center for Environmental Sustainability through Insect Farming (CEIF) will be comprised of three sites (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis [IUPUI], Texas A&M AgriLife Research [TAMU], and Mississippi State University [MSU]), with each site specializing in a specific area of research. TAMU will serve as the lead site for the center. The sites will work collaboratively to deliver industry-desired, fundamental research into the genetics/genomics of the insect systems, evaluating the heritability of traits, and determining the genetic contributions to traits, allowing for future optimization and mass production. Through this research, new knowledge and technologies will fill critical scientific and industrial gaps related to insect farming for livestock and aquaculture production as well as insect production for human consumption. Laboratory and field-based experiments will also engage interdisciplinary expertise in microbiology, engineering, chemistry, food nutrition, physiology, and biology with cutting edge technologies. TAMU will: 1) Optimize mass production of insects used for either food or feed; 2) Conduct trials using insects as feed (e.g., poultry and aquaculture); and 3) Develop strategies for maximizing quality assurance (prevention) and control (detection) of contaminants (e.g., pathogens, heavy metals, and toxins). TAMU will work with the other sites to integrate research thrusts across the three sites with IUPUI and MSU focusing on genetics and microbiology. Further, all three sites will work with strains produced by industry as well as strains developed internally as a means to optimize mass production.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.