Polymer nanoparticle coatings on bacteria

微生物是人工合成化学品的天然替代品，可以改善农作物的健康状况。它们既能帮助植物更好地生长，又能保护它们免受害虫的侵害。据估计，到2023年，农业微生物的市场规模将达到100亿美元。以微生物为基础的产品的主要挑战是使它们从生产到在农场使用期间保持活力。Vive Crop Protection目前有五种基于其合成化学作物保护剂的专利纳米颗粒输送系统的农产品。他们正在将他们的技术扩展到以微生物为基础的农产品的封装，以帮助提高从配方和包装，储存和运输到现场最终应用的微生物活力。与多伦多大学的David McMillen教授和Cynthia Goh教授的合作将有助于表征Vive正在制造的封装微生物，并确定Vive工艺的关键特征，从而提高微生物的生存能力。

Microbes are a natural alternative to synthetic chemicals for improving the health of agricultural crops. They work by both helping plants grow better and protecting them from pests. Agricultural microbials are estimated to be a $10 billion USD market by 2023. The primary challenge with microbial-based products is keeping them alive from when they are made to when they are used on the farm. Vive Crop Protection currently has five agricultural products based on their patented nanoparticle delivery system for synthetic chemical crop protectors. They are extending their technology to the encapsulation of microbial-based agricultural products to help improve microbe viability from formulation and packaging, during storage and transportation to final application in the field. This collaboration with Professors David McMillen and Cynthia Goh at the University of Toronto will help characterize the encapsulated microbes that Vive is making and identify the key features from Vive process that leads to improved microbe viability.