Project Grant 1820211

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was awarded a $643,269 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) competitive grants program. The grant will fund research to develop a microbial platform utilizing acid whey, a liquid byproduct of Greek yogurt production that poses environmental challenges. MIT researchers will use metabolic engineering tools to...

This $300,000 Project Grant awarded by the USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) aims to demonstrate the feasibility of producing chirally pure (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate (R-3HB) from plant waste materials, such as wood and crop leftovers, by modifying Clostridium pathways. The research will create and test two different R-3HB production pathways in Clostridium, then combine and further optimize the approaches to boost R-3HB yields in the bacterium. If successful, this work...

This SBIR Phase I award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program provides $273,111 to Hoofprint Biome, Inc. to develop a probiotic yeast technology that can reduce methane emissions from cattle by at least 30%, and potentially up to 98%. The technology involves screening and optimizing enzymes that restrict methane production in the cattle rumen, and then packaging these enzymes for delivery via a probiotic yeast. The...

This Project Grant award of $275,000, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the CFDA program 47.084 "NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships", aims to develop improved bacterial strains for more cost-effective production of proteins used in detergents, personal care products, and dairy. The project seeks to identify superior bacterial hosts and develop advanced genetic engineering tools to convert these bacteria into efficient protein factories. The goal is to...

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, awarded $175,000 under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program to KSE, Inc. of Sunderland, Massachusetts. The award will support KSE's efforts to develop and scale an integrated process for converting lignocellulosic waste streams into 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) at high selectivity without pre-treatment of biomass compounds. Key activities include improving reactive...

Integrated Lipid Biofuels LLC was awarded a $650,000 Project Grant from the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. The two-year award will support the company's efforts to develop a process for converting organic waste into biopolymers by synergizing anaerobic digestion and synthetic biology techniques. The SBIR Program aims to stimulate technological innovation through the investment of federal...

This $273,910 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program supports research by Bluestem Biosciences Inc., a for-profit company in Omaha, Nebraska, to develop an improved proton ATPase enzyme that can enable the anaerobic biomanufacturing of organic acids like 3-hydroxypropionic acid. The project aims to modify yeast microbes to produce these valuable chemicals as natural byproducts, with a focus on...

This Project Grant award of $275,000.00 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program aims to develop a novel platform for accelerated strain development for precision fermentation to enable high-yield production of animal proteins in yeast. The key objectives of this award are to: 1) Develop a high-throughput sequence screening approach to identify high-expression proteins and signal peptides, 2) Train an AI model to...

This $299,672 federal Project Grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CFDA 10.310 - Agriculture and Food Research Initiative), seeks to address two key challenges in the food industry: the disposal of acid whey and the growing demand for low-calorie sugar substitutes. The project aims to convert galactose, a component of acid whey, into tagatose, a low-calorie sugar alternative, through the development of effective catalytic processes. The anticipated outcomes include waste...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) award provides $274,727 to Weka Biosciences LLC, a woman-owned small business, to develop a novel microbial process for creating a synthetic sugar polymer for use in chiral chromatography. The goal is to produce a more reliable and efficient polymer material to enhance the precision of drug manufacturing and contribute to safer, more effective medications. The 12-month project will focus on...