Project description
Catching pathogens directly from the water
European aquaculture takes a variety of forms, such as intensive farming models that are widely used for rearing finfish. However, intensive models have led to an increase in infection outbreaks, impacting fish health, food production, the environment and the industry’s bottom line. The EU-funded PathoGelTrap project will develop a pathogen-trapping technology that will bring a paradigm shift in infectious-disease management practices. Specifically, it will design a chimeric biomimetic material that will efficiently recognise and trap fish pathogens (both viruses and bacteria) directly in the water and block them. The project will provide the industry with two solutions: PathoGelTrap Liquid (for closed fish farms) to be added directly into the fish-farm water as a flocculant agent and PathoGelTrap Filter (for both closed and open fish farms) to trap the pathogens as they pass through the regular aquaculture filtration systems.
Objective
Aquaculture is a key player to ensure future food and nutrition security. However, intensive farming models are leading to a dramatic increase in infection outbreaks that drastically impact fish health, food production, the environment and this industry's bottom line. Current strategies to control and prevent infections in intensive aquaculture (mainly vaccines and antibiotics) have important drawbacks, which pose a great challenge to the future sustainability of global fish production.
Here, we propose to transform the aquaculture future through a paradigm change in infectious-disease management practices by providing industry with a pioneering pathogen-trapping technology, PathoGelTrap, able to target and remove specific pathogens directly from water.
Going way beyond the state of the art, we will use the current knowledge on self-assembling properties of the Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation proteins (LLPS) and affibodies (AFB) to rationally design a chimeric biomimetic material (LLPS-AFB chimera) that will efficiently recognize and trap fish pathogens (both viruses and bacteria) directly in the water and inactivate them. Thanks to the versatility offered by LLPS proteins, we propose to provide the industry with two different solutions: i) PathoGelTrap Liquid (only for closed fish farms): here the LLPS-AFB monomeric protein acts as a flocculant agent to be added in situ, i.e. directly into the fish-farm water. The protein will bind the targeted pathogens in the water and later self-assemble into liquid droplets that will evolve into hydrogels, which will drag in turn the pathogen to the bottom; ii) PathoGelTrap Filter: here we will cast a customized LLPS-AFB hydrogel to be used as a preformed filter that will trap the pathogens as they pass through the regular aquaculture filtration systems.
This proposal represents a significant advance in biomaterial engineering opening the door for a revolutionary approach for infectious disease control in Aquaculture.
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: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries fisheries
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs antibiotics
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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.
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H2020-EU.1.2. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.2.1. - FET Open
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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.
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.
RIA - Research and Innovation action
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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.
(opens in new window) H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
02 668 Warszawa
Poland
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.