The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded a $175,000 Project Grant under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program to Vivoverse, LLC, a woman-owned small business. The funding will support the development of a high-resolution imaging platform and automated analysis pipeline to rapidly assess the health benefits and potential toxicity of food ingredients, herbal preparations, and plant-derived products using the C. elegans model organism. This approach aims to provide an ethical, high-throughput alternative to traditional animal testing for evaluating the nutritional and therapeutic properties of novel food and agricultural products. The project period runs from July 1, 2024 to February 28, 2025. By leveraging the C. elegans system, Vivoverse's technology seeks to help the USDA's Food Science and Nutrition programs meet long-term goals of producing safe, healthy food products that can improve human health outcomes.
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