Project description
Using the genes of bacteria-eating viruses to eradicate Europe’s most common food contaminant
Viruses and bacteria do not always live together peacefully. Bacteriophages, or bacteria ‘eaters,’ are viruses that infect bacteria. They hijack the cell’s machinery and force it to produce viral necessities rather than the bacterium’s own, eventually killing the bacterium. Bacteriophages have been used to treat bacterial infections for decades. The EU-funded AntiCamp project has developed proprietary phage-based particles they plan to turn against Campylobacter jejuni, the most common foodborne contaminant in Europe. Commercialisation of this safe, cost-effective and unique approach will eliminate C. jejuni from food without compromising the food’s appeal.
Objective
Campylobacter jejuni is the most common foodborne contamination in Europe, affecting millions of people, and costing billions of Euros. Current procedures to treat this contamination do not offer sufficient solutions. Here I present a unique approach to eradicate the pathogen from food by utilizing a cost-effective and safe product that does not alter the taste, texture, or appearance of the food. This innovation involves a spray composed of proprietary phage-based particles, which inject antibacterial genes into C. jejuni, thus killing the pathogen. Current phage-based technologies for decontaminating food encounter a major hurdle, because large-scale phage production in the fastidious and pathogenic C. jejuni strain is highly challenging. However, a major advantage of my product is that it can be prepared in a safe and easy-to-grow Escherichia coli host rather than in C. jejuni. Another significant advantage is that the technology producing the phages enables rapid and efficient modifications to the phage-based particles. This platform thus allows easy isolation and manufacture of cocktails of phage-based particles able to target a variety of pathogenic serotypes of C. jejuni. Furthermore, the proprietary particles all have a common scaffold, thus simplifying the regulation, safety, and route of manufacture. I propose a clear commercialization activity with a highly qualified team that I recruited, from both the scientific and commercialization fields. Developing and commercializing this product will provide a proof-of-concept to demonstrate the strength of this approach and will thus pave the way for additional innovative materials based on this technology.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantHost institution
69978 Tel Aviv
Israel