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Phase II
Manus Biosynthesis, Inc.
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Manus Biosynthesis, Inc.
SBIR Phase II: Development of a low-cost production platform through engineered bacteria for a novel natural acaricide.
Contact
1030 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138-5390
NSF Award
1738463 – SBIR Phase II
Award amount to date
$1,219,999
Start / end date
09/01/2017 – 09/30/2021
Errata
Please report errors in award information by writing to awardsearch@nsf.gov.
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project, if successful, will be the development of a microbial process for the economical and sustainable production of a highly potent natural acaricide, which is a pesticide that kills mites and ticks. Increasing wariness of synthetic insecticides combined with the need to prevent tick-borne illnesses creates a tremendous opportunity for natural acaricides. The project's terpene target has long been known as a highly effective and safe acaricide; however, its commercialization has been hampered by a high cost of production. The aim is to develop an alternative manufacturing process for biosynthetic production enabling the cost reductions required to effectively penetrate the $1.6 B acaricide market. Because the target is GRAS and because it has been used extensively as a food ingredient for decades, there is a compelling safety benefit combined with its potent efficacy, which may spur increased spraying in public areas and private residences. Overall, this project will provide a new sustainable, cost-effective production route, thereby enabling acaricide commercialization.
This SBIR Phase II project will lead to sustainable, scalable, and economical access to a highly potent natural acaricide. A commercial fermentation process will be developed by employing advanced metabolic engineering and protein engineering approaches for improving strain and enzyme performance. Achieving these production metrics will enable formulation and commercialization of various acaricidal products, including yard/area sprays, which will allow better control of tick populations and halt the spread of tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease. In addition, this work will significantly advance the understanding of producing complex plant natural ingredients, thus providing economical and scalable commercial access to a wide array of compounds with significant potential benefit.
Phase I
Manus Biosynthesis, Inc.
-
Manus Biosynthesis, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Engineering Microbial Biosynthesis of a Non-caloric Natural Sweetener
Contact
1030 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138-5390
NSF Award
1214339 – SBIR Phase I
Award amount to date
$180,000
Start / end date
07/01/2012 – 06/30/2013
Errata
Please report errors in award information by writing to awardsearch@nsf.gov.
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will address the potential of synthetic biology and metabolic engineering technologies to generate microbial strains over-producing a non-caloric natural sweetener. Current production and utilization of natural sweeteners is limited due to the high cost of the cultivation and production from native plant sources. So, although natural sweeteners have been used for thousands of years, and are known for their healthy and non-caloric properties, their high production cost prevents them from directly competing with synthetic sweeteners extensively used in beverages and carbonated soft drinks. Our objective is to develop a fermentation process for biosynthetic production allowing increased adoption of low-calorie, natural sweeteners in consumer markets. Metabolic engineering approaches will be used to transfer the natural biosynthetic pathway from the plant to a bacterial host and optimize the metabolic flux for the overproduction at a commercially viable level. We anticipate that a high-productivity strain will be obtained, suitable for continued commercialization efforts. Overall, this project, if successful, will provide a new sustainable production route to the non-caloric natural sweeteners.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the development of a microbial process for the economical and sustainable production of non-caloric natural sweetener, with a potential $3 billion global market. The use of this sweetener will improve taste profiles and expand adoption of low-calorie beverages, confectionaries, baked goods, dairy products, and so on, thus benefitting public health by reducing incidence of diabetes and other obesity-related diseases. Such benefits will translate to reduced healthcare cost both in the U.S. and globally. Additionally, this research will develop generalizable synthetic biology techniques for the high-volume production of natural products with many applications for human health and wellness. -
Manus Biosynthesis, Inc.
STTR Phase I: Overcoming Metabolic Pathway Limitations through De Novo Pathway Design for Terpenoid Biosynthesis
Contact
1030 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138-5390
NSF Award
1321442 – STTR Phase I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2013 – 06/30/2014
Errata
Please report errors in award information by writing to awardsearch@nsf.gov.
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research (STTR) Phase I project aims to develop a novel, high flux terpenoid precursor pathway by circumventing limitations of the bacterial methyl erythritol-phosphate (MEP) pathway for the renewable production of monoterpenoids. Monoterpenoids are natural chemical precursors for several consumer products, and many are produced via highly polluting chemical processes. In the proposed project the plan is to sidestep some of the MEP pathway limitations by designing de novo metabolic pathways. The designed/predicted enzymes will be characterized individually and assembled into a pathway. Further, multivariate-modular metabolic engineering (MMME) approaches will be used to assemble the upstream and downstream pathways to optimize the metabolic flux for the overproduction at commercially viable levels.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project, if successful, will be to develop a microbial monoterpenoid production platform from renewable sugars that will retain and develop sustainable manufacturing of monoterpenoid-derived products in the US. By this strategy, terpenoids can be made at much higher productivities than the native bacterial MEP pathway. While the immediate focus is on the $1B+ monoterpene/derivative market, this approach will benefit US manufacturing of all terpenoids, in total a $5B+ market. Overall, this project will provide a new sustainable production route for these natural chemicals. -
Manus Biosynthesis, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Engineering Bacteria for Low Cost Renewable Biochemical Production
Contact
1030 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138-5390
NSF Award
1248229 – SBIR Phase I
Award amount to date
$150,000
Start / end date
01/01/2013 – 12/31/2013
Errata
Please report errors in award information by writing to awardsearch@nsf.gov.
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a custom-designed microbial biocatalyst for the renewable production of high value terpenoid biochemicals. Terpenoid biochemicals derived from essential oils are used in numerous consumer products and as food additives. Many of them accumulate in nature in various stereo-isomeric forms, each of which possesses unique properties and applications. These molecules are believed to function principally in ecological roles, serving as herbivore-feeding deterrents, antifungal defenses, and pollinator attractants. The research objective is to develop a fermentation process for biosynthetic production allowing increased adoption of such natural alternatives to synthetic chemicals. Multivariate-Modular Metabolic engineering (MMME) approaches will be used to transfer the natural biosynthetic pathway from the plant to a bacterial host and to optimize the metabolic flux for the overproduction at a commercially viable level. A high-productivity strain is anticipated, suitable for continued commercialization efforts. Overall, this project, if successful, will provide a new sustainable production route for these natural chemicals.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the development of a microbial process for the economic and sustainable production of high value terpenoid biochemicals. These terpenoid biochemicals have applications in a variety of industries ranging from agro-chemicals, petro-chemicals and flavor and fragrance (F&F) chemicals; specifically they are commonly used as flavor agents, bio- herbicides, sprout inhibitors and as bio-pest repellents. In all, the total potential addressable markets exceed $3 Billion. Microbial production will benefit society by improving the renewability of the production process and by relocating production from overseas to the US. In summary, the development of microbes capable of producing the target will enable sustainable production of the target as well as create jobs in the US. This research will develop generalizable microbial strain engineering techniques for the high-volume production of natural products through a sustainable manufacturing process. -
Manus Biosynthesis, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Development of a low-cost production platform through engineered bacteria for a novel natural acaricide.
Contact
1030 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138-5390
NSF Award
1621420 – SBIR Phase I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 12/31/2016
Errata
Please report errors in award information by writing to awardsearch@nsf.gov.
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be to reduce the incidence of Lyme Disease through the biomanufacturing of a novel natural acaricide. New cases of Lyme Disease have grown by nearly 50% over the past decade while the existing synthetic acaricides are dwindling in use due to regulatory and consumer safety concerns. The CDC and USDA have begun to champion a highly effective natural acaricide extracted from grapefruit. This target molecule is a GRAS-approved natural product, which has been used extensively as a food ingredient for decades. It is thought that this compelling safety benefit combined with potent efficacy will spur increased spraying in public areas and private residences. However, the cost of producing this natural acaricide has been prohibitive, and there is an opportunity to develop alternative sustainable production technologies.
This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a microbial process for the economical and sustainable production of a highly potent natural acaricide. Increasing wariness of synthetic insecticides combined with the need to prevent tick-borne illnesses creates a tremendous opportunity for natural acaricides. The project's terpene target has long been known as a highly effective acaricide; however, its commercialization has been hampered by a high cost of production. The aim is to develop an alternative fermentation process for biosynthetic production enabling the cost reductions required to effectively penetrate the acaricide market. The main objective for this project is to increase titers by an order of magnitude. This will be accomplished by employing established and novel metabolic and protein engineering approaches. Overall, this project will provide a new sustainable, cost-effective production route, thereby enabling acaricide commercialization.
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