US$14.8 million partnership on precision fermented food

Creating a sustainable and plentiful food source is a challenge for many food producers. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers and partners in Singapore are taking a novel approach to this challenge by creating food building blocks at the microbial level.

The team, led by Food Science & Human Nutrition Professor Yong-Su Jin, has received a five-year, US$14.8m grant to develop the Centre for Precision Fermentation and Sustainability (PreFerS) from Singapore’s National Research Foundation (NRF).

PreFerS will focus on enhancing the production of safe, nutritious and appetising foods. More specifically, the research will work to advance technologies for microbial cell engineering, creating metabolic pathways in microorganisms, to convert readily available compounds like sugars into targeted, nutritional molecules including alternative proteins, healthy lipids and vitamins. Through this work, PreFerS seeks to improve food supply chain resilience, reduce environmental impacts of food and nutrient production, and directly address hidden hunger, the growing epidemic of micronutrient deficiency.

“By converting sugars and inedible parts of crops into healthier foods, we can take what is already provided in plants and use it to create a more balanced, nutritious and good-tasting diet,” said Food Science & Human Nutrition Professor Yong-Su Jin.

“We believe this work can play a major role in human health and address inequities in food supplies the world over — without contributing to global climate change.”

The PreFerS team is supported by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) and assisted by Guest, iSEE’s associate director for research; and Madhu Khanna, iSEE’s director and Alvin H. Baum Family Chair. Guest and Khanna guided the 18-month proposal development and related activities with the NRF. 

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