Aboriginal microbes at the height of fashion
Indibiome - is the new black (something very stylish) - this is the name of the article in English ( link to Habr ), here is a translation of my own text.
Indigenous microbes at the peak of fashion, just like in the electronic and computer industries, microbial design offices will be able to meet the needs of health care, agriculture, food production and industry.
Indibiome is discussed in my previous article in Russian ( link ). Indibiome is an indigenous microbiome, originated from the term "indigenous peoples", the term is used below in the sense of "inherent in a certain environment, localized and optimized for sustainable existence."
')
Microbes have always existed, however, technologies that allow efficient manipulation of microbes, as well as accumulated genetic and experimental data on diverse microbial communities, have reached the required level only in the last decade. Below is my concept of the interdisciplinary “indibiome development bureau”, and I will be glad to hear your feedback in the comments.
Computer and electronic applications are developed on the basis of needs: the problem is first posed, and the solution is developed as a combination of the latest and most economical materials, components, software libraries and existing devices. In the microbial world, everything still works mostly differently: someone discovers outstanding microbial properties (an enzyme that can work at a higher temperature, the ability to drive away other harmful microbes, etc.), and then tries to create an application with this one property. . From the point of view of cause and effect, we first observe the effect, and then try to manipulate the cause (microbe) in any possible application. This gives solutions in which microbes are the main part, and the amount of technology is rarely found, it’s like producing microchips in new form factors, but not having the proper motherboards or sets of software developers aimed at using their full potential.
A little idea of ​​the difference between microbes and indibiome in the context of this article, indibiom is a set of different microbes that are in a stable equilibrium, which is supported by microbial interactions. We studied individual microbes quite well, and many of these are embodied in billions of billions of technologies, while the understanding of the microbiome is far from complete due to the complexity involved in a multitude of interactions. From the point of view of use, we usually use microbes for production: biodegradable substances, drugs (for example, insulin), fermentation of food and alcohol, etc. Sometimes, as a source of new molecules for medicine and biotechnology. Microbiomes (consortia of bacteria) are mainly considered together with the niche they occupy - the intestinal microbiome and intestine, the microbiome of the skin and the skin, the lake microbiome and the lake. We are focused on solutions that are useful for a niche when we try to influence the microbiome, in other words, the general approach is to solve the niche problem by adding, improving, manipulating the microbiome in it. A good hint when choosing a microbiome configuration can be a well-known niche microbiome - indibiom, for example, many brands in the field of vaginal care are inspired by recent vaginal microbiome research ( link to an article on Habré).
The first steps have been taken in health care, since the intestinal microbiome and intestine appear to be one of the fundamental parts of human health, the other directions are soil and skin, and then everywhere where the use of an open system can benefit. Moreover, you may be interested in indibiomas of buildings, cars, clothes, pets. Wherever it could solve problems, for example, ensuring the safety of food production with the use of an indioma of a factory building or protection against nosocomial infections in a hospital using an indioma of the room, or reducing the level of allergy to pets.
Understanding the complexity of the microbiome is possible only with interdisciplinary approaches. As soon as a niche problem is selected: bioinformatics and literary search will narrow the field of research, molecular biology will be used for laboratory tests and manipulations, and finally, engineering systems that simulate the original niche can be used (where, thanks to the sensor capability, the model can be digitized see project
SHIME and M-SHIME - ProDigest - intestinal simulator) and, finally, the microbiome should be delivered to the site using materials science approaches. This approach can even form local microbiomes de novo.
All the above facts lead us to the concept of the design bureau of the microbiome. Industrial design and prototyping services are already working: a person comes with stuffing and electronics projects, and the company develops a tablet, designs and 3D prints the device shell, assembles a prototype, and produces internal operational software or connects it to the cloud. But it all started with a problem that needs to be solved, and some idea about how to do it. The microbial technologies of the end of 2020 are no longer rocket science (no rocket science), the cultivation of bacteria and their cloning are available to everyone, as well as the purchase of microchips and data processing. Any solution can be tested within a few months.
At the moment technological drivers are academic institutions, mainly creating spin-offs as side projects with scientists from the main projects of the institution. This usually happens when the research group thinks about the application of the detected effect and is actively moving forward. Spin-offs - a common place in such areas as, for example, photonics ( example ), where research is intended for applications, in the world of microbes this practice is still new. Potentially academic achievements in the field of microbiology contain various solutions to existing problems.
While the core of the solution will come from the microbiome field, the solution packaging is even more exciting. The complementary parts of the final solution can be obtained using the following breakthrough technologies:
Biodegradable materials - often serve as a means for continuous drug delivery, materials can be developed for selective decomposition only by certain bacteria and, therefore, the entire solution acts as a therapeutic agent.
Microfluidics - lab on a chip, solutions that use bacteria as sensors or manufacturers in microformat
Data science - such as digital maps of agriculture and soil microbiomes used for soil improvement strategies. We made a prototype of an antibiotic resistance map from infotanka , for example ( link )
Bioinformatics - can potentially create new microbiomes from bacteria with known genomes - so as to provide completely new metabolic chains
Fermentation technology - fermentation processes can turn non-edible food into nutritious and functional
The main expertise of the bureau is microbiological applications, that is, the understanding of the technological pipelines for various industries in which microbial preparations are already used. This would allow the team to avoid an approach based on one area (that is, only in the field of medicine or oil production) and to apply successful ideas in different directions.
The interdisciplinary team should be at the engineering level, not the Nobel Prize winners, this is important. The professionalism of the team should include: microbial cultivation, fermentation, organic chemistry, biodegradable materials, medical devices, soil microbiome, etc.
While the main center of expertise will look for initial solutions, the business developer should be able to estimate costs and market value, iteratively increasing accuracy as the pilot project is completed.
Marketing and IP specialists should be used as consultants in the early stages of the product concept.
Any new solution in such a bureau will not be a blue ocean in terms of completely new markets, but it will enter the market for non-microbial solutions and show better efficiency. Moreover, the resistance incorporated in the microbial composition should be used to conquer the market:
As a microbiome skin cream, it not only provides nourishment, but also creates a new type of self-contained skin microbiome, up to the point where the initial cream is not required. A new idea for the market is that you do not need to sell me a lot of products all my life, you can create a sustainable system that you need to maintain from time to time. Microbial systems are recreated on your skin or in your garden and make it possible to abandon chemical plants, warehouses, vehicles on gasoline engines.
Promising markets for finding solutions are: skin care, vaginal flora, indoor cleaning (home and industrial), fermented foods. In this area, the team should gain an understanding of the level of microbial and non-microbial decisions and unmet needs.
It would be wise at first to keep away from medical microbiomes, especially in the intestinal area, since this area is extremely competitive, very strictly regulated, includes costly human trials and shows the longest time to market. The only exception here is the use of combinations of microbes that are already used in clinical practice, and already tested delivery forms, that is, a combination of approved technologies is close to the market. Markets on the periphery of medical applications - sanitation, food and cosmetics are very profitable, and they already have such trends as sustainability, environmental friendliness, lean production and consumption.
The products in this market can have interesting medical effects: a room cleaner can improve air quality, or skin cream can help with skin diseases, these properties should be clinically checked as the product matures, naturally, we expect them to be based on creating a sustainable microbial environment.
After studying the aforementioned markets by the think tank, the first goal is to offer a microbial solution. Initially, the solution can be based on hypothetical microbial properties that can be found in nature or tested in the laboratory. Additional technologies that serve for the delivery of microbes, for example, at this stage can create properties that are absent from competitors. Interestingly, intellectual property can be the exact intersection of microbial and complementary technologies. Moreover, thanks to the experience of the Bureau, it will be able to implement similar solutions in different projects - this is the value of the Bureau - developing the basis for microbiological use.
The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and fellow scientists are the next train stop when discussing a decision. The use of media materials on the development of technologies, data on the genomes of bacteria and networking is the decision of any new project to be discussed, criticized and corrected. So there is a chance to get a specialist in a specific issue in the process of discussing a project - this gives an incredible marketing value, an absolutely transparent approach to development is obvious.
The next step is laboratory testing. It is best for the Bureau to have its own microbial laboratory, however, the first steps can be fully accomplished through subcontracting or working in co-working laboratories available in major cities. The result of the laboratory testing phase is to confirm the properties and preliminary checks, ideally confirming that the invented product is working under laboratory conditions, and it is worth translating it into the pilot phase of testing outside the laboratory.
What you need to start
Requires a team capable of preliminary work. The work will include a description of the technology and market analysis for different markets and solutions. 3-4 people, able to analyze marketing, FMCG market, medical devices, food supplements, must decide how feasible projects in the proposed areas are.
Techtransfer, customer orientation and constant feedback
When creating a microbial product, the team should monitor potential corporate customers who can buy technology, and at the same time be close to the end user of the product and monitor the reaction of the focus group. The next part is testing, some products require clinical trials (for example, for functional foods and cosmetics), but for simpler ones, this can be done in the Bureau's laboratory and compare the effectiveness with non-microbial approaches existing on the market.
The prototype of the product, the design, the economics of production, the marketing and sales plan, the IP protection plan, the test results - all this is the final stage of the work at the Bureau. The product can be sent to the market. Ideally, you can sell a license, you can sell the entire technology entirely, or develop it with a corporate partner or VC.
Vaginal well-being
Problem: ineffective delivery of probiotics
Solution: Biodegradable Probiotic Delivery System
Oral care
The Problem: Printed Capes and Gum Health
Solution: tab for caps with probiotics, (3D smile can be a great partner)
Skin care
Problem: intermittent effects of creams
Solution: cream with new skin microbiome (SPLAT can be an excellent partner)
Nutrition
Problem: lack of dietary fiber in food
Solution: Snack Bar especially for Microbiome (BITE can be an excellent partner)
Room cleaning
Problem: infections in hospitals
Solution: probiotic cleaning components for sustainable protection (PIP already does this)
Solution 2: own reactor to create probiotic liquid for cleaning premises
Indigenous microbes at the peak of fashion, just like in the electronic and computer industries, microbial design offices will be able to meet the needs of health care, agriculture, food production and industry.
Indibiome is discussed in my previous article in Russian ( link ). Indibiome is an indigenous microbiome, originated from the term "indigenous peoples", the term is used below in the sense of "inherent in a certain environment, localized and optimized for sustainable existence."
')
Microbes have always existed, however, technologies that allow efficient manipulation of microbes, as well as accumulated genetic and experimental data on diverse microbial communities, have reached the required level only in the last decade. Below is my concept of the interdisciplinary “indibiome development bureau”, and I will be glad to hear your feedback in the comments.
Computer and electronic applications are developed on the basis of needs: the problem is first posed, and the solution is developed as a combination of the latest and most economical materials, components, software libraries and existing devices. In the microbial world, everything still works mostly differently: someone discovers outstanding microbial properties (an enzyme that can work at a higher temperature, the ability to drive away other harmful microbes, etc.), and then tries to create an application with this one property. . From the point of view of cause and effect, we first observe the effect, and then try to manipulate the cause (microbe) in any possible application. This gives solutions in which microbes are the main part, and the amount of technology is rarely found, it’s like producing microchips in new form factors, but not having the proper motherboards or sets of software developers aimed at using their full potential.
A little idea of ​​the difference between microbes and indibiome in the context of this article, indibiom is a set of different microbes that are in a stable equilibrium, which is supported by microbial interactions. We studied individual microbes quite well, and many of these are embodied in billions of billions of technologies, while the understanding of the microbiome is far from complete due to the complexity involved in a multitude of interactions. From the point of view of use, we usually use microbes for production: biodegradable substances, drugs (for example, insulin), fermentation of food and alcohol, etc. Sometimes, as a source of new molecules for medicine and biotechnology. Microbiomes (consortia of bacteria) are mainly considered together with the niche they occupy - the intestinal microbiome and intestine, the microbiome of the skin and the skin, the lake microbiome and the lake. We are focused on solutions that are useful for a niche when we try to influence the microbiome, in other words, the general approach is to solve the niche problem by adding, improving, manipulating the microbiome in it. A good hint when choosing a microbiome configuration can be a well-known niche microbiome - indibiom, for example, many brands in the field of vaginal care are inspired by recent vaginal microbiome research ( link to an article on Habré).
The first steps have been taken in health care, since the intestinal microbiome and intestine appear to be one of the fundamental parts of human health, the other directions are soil and skin, and then everywhere where the use of an open system can benefit. Moreover, you may be interested in indibiomas of buildings, cars, clothes, pets. Wherever it could solve problems, for example, ensuring the safety of food production with the use of an indioma of a factory building or protection against nosocomial infections in a hospital using an indioma of the room, or reducing the level of allergy to pets.
Understanding the complexity of the microbiome is possible only with interdisciplinary approaches. As soon as a niche problem is selected: bioinformatics and literary search will narrow the field of research, molecular biology will be used for laboratory tests and manipulations, and finally, engineering systems that simulate the original niche can be used (where, thanks to the sensor capability, the model can be digitized see project
SHIME and M-SHIME - ProDigest - intestinal simulator) and, finally, the microbiome should be delivered to the site using materials science approaches. This approach can even form local microbiomes de novo.
All the above facts lead us to the concept of the design bureau of the microbiome. Industrial design and prototyping services are already working: a person comes with stuffing and electronics projects, and the company develops a tablet, designs and 3D prints the device shell, assembles a prototype, and produces internal operational software or connects it to the cloud. But it all started with a problem that needs to be solved, and some idea about how to do it. The microbial technologies of the end of 2020 are no longer rocket science (no rocket science), the cultivation of bacteria and their cloning are available to everyone, as well as the purchase of microchips and data processing. Any solution can be tested within a few months.
At the moment technological drivers are academic institutions, mainly creating spin-offs as side projects with scientists from the main projects of the institution. This usually happens when the research group thinks about the application of the detected effect and is actively moving forward. Spin-offs - a common place in such areas as, for example, photonics ( example ), where research is intended for applications, in the world of microbes this practice is still new. Potentially academic achievements in the field of microbiology contain various solutions to existing problems.
While the core of the solution will come from the microbiome field, the solution packaging is even more exciting. The complementary parts of the final solution can be obtained using the following breakthrough technologies:
Biodegradable materials - often serve as a means for continuous drug delivery, materials can be developed for selective decomposition only by certain bacteria and, therefore, the entire solution acts as a therapeutic agent.
Microfluidics - lab on a chip, solutions that use bacteria as sensors or manufacturers in microformat
Data science - such as digital maps of agriculture and soil microbiomes used for soil improvement strategies. We made a prototype of an antibiotic resistance map from infotanka , for example ( link )
Bioinformatics - can potentially create new microbiomes from bacteria with known genomes - so as to provide completely new metabolic chains
Fermentation technology - fermentation processes can turn non-edible food into nutritious and functional
Basic examination
The main expertise of the bureau is microbiological applications, that is, the understanding of the technological pipelines for various industries in which microbial preparations are already used. This would allow the team to avoid an approach based on one area (that is, only in the field of medicine or oil production) and to apply successful ideas in different directions.
The interdisciplinary team should be at the engineering level, not the Nobel Prize winners, this is important. The professionalism of the team should include: microbial cultivation, fermentation, organic chemistry, biodegradable materials, medical devices, soil microbiome, etc.
While the main center of expertise will look for initial solutions, the business developer should be able to estimate costs and market value, iteratively increasing accuracy as the pilot project is completed.
Marketing and IP specialists should be used as consultants in the early stages of the product concept.
Any new solution in such a bureau will not be a blue ocean in terms of completely new markets, but it will enter the market for non-microbial solutions and show better efficiency. Moreover, the resistance incorporated in the microbial composition should be used to conquer the market:
As a microbiome skin cream, it not only provides nourishment, but also creates a new type of self-contained skin microbiome, up to the point where the initial cream is not required. A new idea for the market is that you do not need to sell me a lot of products all my life, you can create a sustainable system that you need to maintain from time to time. Microbial systems are recreated on your skin or in your garden and make it possible to abandon chemical plants, warehouses, vehicles on gasoline engines.
Promising markets for finding solutions are: skin care, vaginal flora, indoor cleaning (home and industrial), fermented foods. In this area, the team should gain an understanding of the level of microbial and non-microbial decisions and unmet needs.
It would be wise at first to keep away from medical microbiomes, especially in the intestinal area, since this area is extremely competitive, very strictly regulated, includes costly human trials and shows the longest time to market. The only exception here is the use of combinations of microbes that are already used in clinical practice, and already tested delivery forms, that is, a combination of approved technologies is close to the market. Markets on the periphery of medical applications - sanitation, food and cosmetics are very profitable, and they already have such trends as sustainability, environmental friendliness, lean production and consumption.
The products in this market can have interesting medical effects: a room cleaner can improve air quality, or skin cream can help with skin diseases, these properties should be clinically checked as the product matures, naturally, we expect them to be based on creating a sustainable microbial environment.
After studying the aforementioned markets by the think tank, the first goal is to offer a microbial solution. Initially, the solution can be based on hypothetical microbial properties that can be found in nature or tested in the laboratory. Additional technologies that serve for the delivery of microbes, for example, at this stage can create properties that are absent from competitors. Interestingly, intellectual property can be the exact intersection of microbial and complementary technologies. Moreover, thanks to the experience of the Bureau, it will be able to implement similar solutions in different projects - this is the value of the Bureau - developing the basis for microbiological use.
The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and fellow scientists are the next train stop when discussing a decision. The use of media materials on the development of technologies, data on the genomes of bacteria and networking is the decision of any new project to be discussed, criticized and corrected. So there is a chance to get a specialist in a specific issue in the process of discussing a project - this gives an incredible marketing value, an absolutely transparent approach to development is obvious.
The next step is laboratory testing. It is best for the Bureau to have its own microbial laboratory, however, the first steps can be fully accomplished through subcontracting or working in co-working laboratories available in major cities. The result of the laboratory testing phase is to confirm the properties and preliminary checks, ideally confirming that the invented product is working under laboratory conditions, and it is worth translating it into the pilot phase of testing outside the laboratory.
What you need to start
Requires a team capable of preliminary work. The work will include a description of the technology and market analysis for different markets and solutions. 3-4 people, able to analyze marketing, FMCG market, medical devices, food supplements, must decide how feasible projects in the proposed areas are.
Techtransfer, customer orientation and constant feedback
When creating a microbial product, the team should monitor potential corporate customers who can buy technology, and at the same time be close to the end user of the product and monitor the reaction of the focus group. The next part is testing, some products require clinical trials (for example, for functional foods and cosmetics), but for simpler ones, this can be done in the Bureau's laboratory and compare the effectiveness with non-microbial approaches existing on the market.
The prototype of the product, the design, the economics of production, the marketing and sales plan, the IP protection plan, the test results - all this is the final stage of the work at the Bureau. The product can be sent to the market. Ideally, you can sell a license, you can sell the entire technology entirely, or develop it with a corporate partner or VC.
Markets and Solutions
Vaginal well-being
Problem: ineffective delivery of probiotics
Solution: Biodegradable Probiotic Delivery System
Oral care
The Problem: Printed Capes and Gum Health
Solution: tab for caps with probiotics, (3D smile can be a great partner)
Skin care
Problem: intermittent effects of creams
Solution: cream with new skin microbiome (SPLAT can be an excellent partner)
Nutrition
Problem: lack of dietary fiber in food
Solution: Snack Bar especially for Microbiome (BITE can be an excellent partner)
Room cleaning
Problem: infections in hospitals
Solution: probiotic cleaning components for sustainable protection (PIP already does this)
Solution 2: own reactor to create probiotic liquid for cleaning premises
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/449648/
All Articles