SBIR Phase II: Sustainable production of high-performance dietary supplements

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛影响将是通过提供高性能的天然补充剂来促进改善畜牧业实践，这些补充剂可以取代预防性抗生素，药物和激素。在动物饲料中使用与医学相关的抗生素引发了“超级细菌”的传播，引起了公众健康问题。减少动物饲料对抗生素的依赖需要多个部门的共同努力。该项目的结果可能提供使用抗生素的实用替代方案。通过研究和示范，该项目旨在克服消费者对接受新补充剂的疑虑，并为在饲料中消除抗生素后保持动物养殖的盈利能力做出贡献。拟议项目使用酶设计中最先进的计算工具，使用定制微生物创造新的生物催化剂。由此产生的具有新功能的设计微生物可以使用可持续的生物过程生产用于动物饲料的补充剂。该项目的一个关键组成部分是设计高效的生物工艺，提供可与现有供应链互换的补充剂，而不需要任何额外的农场基础设施。许多天然补充剂要么从植物中提取，要么使用苛刻的工艺生产，从而增加了它们的成本。该项目的成功完成可以克服营养补充剂生产的地理或季节限制，并代表了在膳食补充剂领域使用尖端技术。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。

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will be to facilitate improved animal husbandry practices by providing high-performance natural supplements that can replace prophylactic antibiotics, drugs, and hormones. The use of medically-relevant antibiotics in animal feed initiated the spread of “super bugs,” causing a public health concern. Reducing the dependency on antibiotics in animal feed requires a concerted effort from multiple sectors. The outcome from this project may provide pragmatic alternatives to using antibiotics. Through research and demonstration, this project aims to overcome consumer skepticism towards accepting new supplements and contribute to maintaining profitability in animal farming even after antibiotics are eliminated from feed.The proposed project uses state-of-the-art computational tools in enzyme design to create new biocatalysts with tailored microorganisms. The resultant designer microorganisms with new functionalities may produce supplements used in animal feed using sustainable bioprocesses. A crucial component of the project is to design efficient bioprocesses that provide supplements that are fungible with existing supply chains, without the need for any additional on-farm infrastructure. Many natural supplements are either extracted from plants or produced using harsh processes, contributing to their expense. Successful completion of this project may overcome geographical or seasonal limitations in supplment production and represent the use of cutting-edge technology in the dietary supplements sector.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.