InteliSpark client, Ascribe Bioscience, wins a phase II SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grant from the National Institutes of Health. Building on the success of phase I, researchers will finalize the formulation for a novel sprout seed formulation to prevent sprout-related foodborne illnesses.
Between 1996 and 2018, the FDA reported 50 outbreaks linked to contaminated sprouts, resulting in more than an estimated 2,600 cases of foodborne illnesses. Bacterial pathogens such as e. coli, salmonella, and listeria contaminate edible sprouts, including alfalfa, mung bean and clover, and lead to severe outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. Though some seed treatments exist, no treatment is currently available to eliminate pathogens on seeds or sprouts that cause foodborne illness.
The agricultural biotech startup, Ascribe Bioscience, has developed an innovative seed treatment technology that enhances a plant’s natural defense against pathogens. In contrast to combatting pathogens with toxins, this treatment enables farmers to treat crops without harming the environment or human health. Ascribe uses a natural, microbiome-derived molecule that activates plant defenses at the seed stage, thereby giving sprouts an enhanced resistance against contamination by disease-causing bacterial pathogens.
In phase I, Ascribe established the feasibility of the technology by demonstrating that the treatment can prevent Salmonella growth during the sprouting process in alfalfa. In phase II, Ascribe will finalize the formulation for the sprout seed treatment, expand testing against other illness-causing pathogens on a variety of sprout types, and develop methods to enable large-scale production of the active ingredient. This innovative seed treatment has the potential to dramatically improve the safety of edible sprouts and prevent sprout-related foodborne illness outbreaks.