A revolution in animal growth and health
With climate change and a growing population increasing the risk of food insecurity, agriculture is being asked to increase animal production. But it must do so without an over-reliance on antibiotics and traditional growth-promoting methods, many of which have been linked to health and environmental issues. “As demand for animal protein rises, livestock farmers must produce more food with fewer resources while meeting stricter sustainability and animal welfare standards,” says David Gilbert, vice-president of business development at Aviwell(opens in new window), a company focused on developing new solutions to help the agri-food industry sustainably feed the world’s growing population. One of those solutions is the Aneto™ Discovery Platform.
Improving animal productivity without the antibiotics
Developed with the support of European Innovation Council(opens in new window) funding for the Aviwell project, Aneto™ is an innovative, AI-driven platform designed to identify bioactive solutions based on those biological mechanisms that improve animal productivity and health. “With our platform, the agri-food industry can identify the biological drivers of animal performance using advanced data science,” explains Gilbert. According to Gilbert, the solution leverages existing proprietary bioinformatic and biostatistical pipelines to integrate molecular datasets into Aneto™. It then uses advanced algorithms to create a digital animal model. The user can query this model to identify those bioactive solutions that may influence livestock growth and health. “These discoveries are then translated into practical livestock solutions that can improve animal performance while reducing reliance on antibiotics, increasing sustainability and meeting current consumer demands for natural and safe food,” adds Gilbert. The company has already used the Aneto™ platform to identify a bioactive feed additive solution that is being marketed as Nectar™. Aviwell also used the EU funding to validate its Aneto™ platform. “These validation studies demonstrate that the targeted bioactive solutions identified by our platform can significantly improve livestock productivity,” notes Gilbert.
Livestock productivity doesn’t have to come at the expense of sustainability
With the EU’s support, Aviwell has successfully turned complex biological data into bioactive solutions that farmers can use to improve both animal health and performance. It also showed that improving livestock productivity does not have to come at the expense of sustainability. “One of the achievements we are most proud of is demonstrating that life and data sciences can be successfully combined to improve animal productivity, sustainability and welfare,” remarks Gilbert. The company is now working to commercialise and scale its platform, along with expanding its network of industrial partners. “The EU funding transformed Aviwell from an early-stage start-up into a company ready to bring its Aneto™ technology to global livestock markets,” concludes Gilbert. “In doing so, we will help address the critical agricultural challenge of producing more with less.”