CHICAGO AND SAN FRANCISCO — ADM, a global leader in nutrition, and Brightseed, a bioactives company and World Economic Forum Global Innovator, announced a global partnership to develop evidence-based functional synbiotic products that will help optimize the human body’s microbiome.
ADM is leveraging Brightseed’s artificial intelligence platform, Forager, to determine the molecular interactions of dietary plants between gut microbes and their impact on human health. The AI platform finds bioactives in plants and maps them to specific modes of action at a speed and precision that was previously not possible and provides information about biological changes that can occur at the cellular level.
“We know from our recent research into global consumer trends that macro forces, including the lingering pandemic, have coincided with an increased demand for natural and plant-based solutions that target immune function, metabolic health and mental well-being,” said Mark Lotsch, president of global health and wellness for ADM. “We are thrilled to partner with Brightseed to lead in state-of-the-art discovery on the microbiome and to bring forward science-backed solutions that empower consumers toward proactive and individualized health.”
The gut microbiome consists of a dynamic ecosystem made up of microorganisms that perform complex interactions between diets and human biology that impact health. There is increased interest in nutrition science on the role of synbiotics for gut health benefits, a category of gut health solutions in the form of food and supplements, combining probiotics with prebiotics.
“Brightseed and ADM share the conviction that precision health outcomes for consumers should be driving category innovation,” said Sofia Elizondo, co-founder and COO of Brightseed. “ADM’s advanced understanding of the untapped potential of natural compounds, combined with their vast microbial libraries, is the sum total expertise that will redefine the future of ingredients to promote a healthy microbiome.”
ADM and Brightseed aim to launch synbiotics as functional ingredients for food and beverages, dietary supplements and medical foods by 2025.
