Objective
Polyunstaurated fatty acids are long chain fatty acids that include among them the essential omega-3 (n-3) and omega-6 (n-6) acids. The requirement for humans to ingest these as part of a balanced diet is due to the inability to synthesise the pre-cursors of these compounds, linolenic acid (n-3) and linoleic acid (n-6). Once ingested these pre-cursors are then metabolised into a number of key compounds that play vital roles in inflammation, cardiovascular health and normal brain and visual function. In addition it is also beleived that by ingesting the correct ratio of n-3:n-6 acids has many beneficial effects including reduced risk of heart disease and mental health issues. The benefits of supplementary feeding with n-3 and n-6 fatty acids has been studied extensively in infant nutrition. Studies have shown that supplementing infants food with n-3 and n-6 fatty acids can increase attention span, learning capabilities and even increased IQ over children in control groups. Due to these effects it is now reccomended that all infants diets are supplemented with n-3 and n-6 fatty acids. The main source of dietary fatty acids is in seeds, oils and oily fish with fish oil being the most easily adsorbed and metabolised. However, due to the fact that some people do not like to eat fish products, the unsustainablilty of fish stocks and the growing worry about contaimination of the food chain with noxious chemicals much effort has been directed towards a safe, reproducible and environmentally friendly way of producing fatty acids from oleaginous fungi. The fungus Mortierella alpina makes large amounts of fatty acids. This organism has been used commercially for a number of years and has the potential to make large amounts of pure n-3 and n-6 fatty acids. However, due to the lack of robust molecular tools the full potential of this organism has not been achieved. In this project we will devlop the molecular tools to utilise M. alpina as a factory for n-3 and n-6 production.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology mycology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules lipids
- medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
2613 AX Delft
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.