Nexilico and Microvi Team Secures NIH Grant to Advance Microbiome-Based Solutions for Environmental Toxins
Danville, CA (January 2, 2024) – Nexilico has received NIH funding to develop innovative microbiome-based solutions to address the harmful effects of xenobiotics—environmental toxins found in food, water, and other sources. Partnering with UC Berkeley and Microvi Biotech, the project will leverage the transformative power of the gut microbiome to detoxify these substances, with a focus on arsenic, one of the most dangerous environmental toxins affecting millions worldwide.
By combining advanced computational modeling with laboratory testing, the team aims to identify gut microorganisms capable of neutralizing toxins and reducing their harmful effects. The initial work will focus on mitigating the health risks of arsenic exposure, which remains a major global and U.S. public health issue despite ongoing remediation efforts. This research holds significant promise for developing scalable solutions to protect public health from a wide range of environmental threats.
The initial focus of this project will be on combating the threat of arsenic, a notorious environmental toxin and the top substance of concern on both the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the US EPA's Priority List of Hazardous Substances. Despite ongoing efforts to remove arsenic from water sources, over 140 million people worldwide remain exposed to its detrimental health effects. In the US alone, millions face potential harm from dangerously high arsenic levels in drinking water wells across 25 states. The successful development of microbiome solutions through this project holds immense promise for mitigating the risks associated not only with arsenic, but also with a wider range of xenobiotic threats, potentially impacting millions of lives around the globe.
About Microvi
Microvi is an applied biotechnology company based in the San Francisco Bay Area that develops and commercializes next-generation biosolutions to address critical challenges in climate change, water, energy, waste, health, and environmental sustainability. Powered by its proprietary MicroNiche Engineering™ (MNE) platform, Microvi delivers proven, high-performance biosolutions worldwide – reducing greenhouse gas emissions and waste while increasing productivity and cost-efficiency for its customers. Microvi’s scaleable biosolutions are deployed globally across diverse sectors, providing disruptive economic value for industry partners and ultimately contributing to a cleaner environment and healthier communities. Learn more at Microvi Biotech.
About Nexilico
Nexilico is a biotechnology company that employs the power of computational and systems biology to address challenging problems in medicine and biotechnology. As a pioneer in the next generation in silico microbiome technologies, Nexilico advances scientific understanding about the role of microbiomes in health and disease and leverages that information to develop novel microbiome-based technologies. Learn more at Nexilico.
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