Scalably Encapsulating Living Microbial Payloads Into Hydrogels for Crop Resilience

到2050年，世界人口预计将增长到97亿，这就需要加快创新和投资，以推进对自然、农民和社会都有益的更可持续的农业。在健康农田中发现的土壤微生物可以作为一种肥料施用于退化的表土，以恢复土壤结构，促进健康作物的生长并增强土壤固碳能力。微生物学的发展使科学家能够为特定类型的作物和土壤设计微生物。运输和应用活微生物仍然是一个物流挑战，因此提出了替代的递送介质。该项目旨在开发一种新型作物产品，其中包括保护在小凝胶珠中的有益微生物，这些凝胶珠可以像沙子一样流动，同时形成一艘保护它们宝贵生命货物的“太空船”。设计和制造这些活肥料需要广泛的新技术，包括微生物学、植物生物学、聚合物科学和化学工程。

The world's population is expected to grow to 9.7 billion by 2050, requiring an acceleration in innovation and investment to advance more sustainable agriculture which is good for nature, farmers, and society. Soil microbes, found in healthy agricultural land, can be applied to degraded topsoil as a fertiliser that restores the soil structure, promotes the growth of healthy crops and enhances the ability of the soil to sequester carbon. Developments in microbiology have enabled scientists to engineer microbes for particular types of crops and soil. Transporting and applying living microbes remains a logistical challenge, so alternative delivery media have been proposed. This project aims to develop a novel crop product that comprises beneficial microbes protected in small gel beads that can flow like sand whilst forming a protective 'space ship' for their precious living cargo. Designing and manufacturing these living fertilisers requires a breadth of new technologies drawing from microbiology, plant biology, polymer science and chemical engineering.