Chr. Hansen and CLC bio in 1.8M USD research project on identifying bacteria genes

Chr. Hansen has teamed up with CLC bio and Roskilde University in an effort understand the genetic make-up of bacteria and see whether this knowledge can be used to improve probiotic food products. New bioinformatics solutions will make it possible to further understand why bacteria perform the way they do, and to find undiscovered potential in lactic acid bacteria. This could in time lead to improved probiotic food products, like fermented milk, and dietary supplements for the global consumers.

Group leader of Genomics at Chr. Hansen, Dr. Martin B. Pedersen, states,
We are proud to be part of this project with CLC bio which gives us access to state-of-the-art bioinformatics methods, and we hope new more advanced methods will be developed within the 4-year duration of the project. It will help us to better understand and develop our probiotic strains for future products with beneficial effect on human health.

During the project, Chr. Hansen, CLC bio, and Roskilde University will work in conjunction with researchers in Aalborg and Copenhagen in Denmark, and Tokyo in Japan. The scientists will use bioinformatics, a way of converting complex biological data such as DNA into practical knowledge using complicated mathematical models and statistics, to analyze the bacteria.

The project has a total budget of 1.8 million USD of which half will be provided by the Danish Strategic Research Council.

Chr. Hansen develops natural ingredient solutions such as cultures, enzymes, colors and flavors. The ingredients are used in the food, pharmaceutical, nutritional and agricultural industries.