CFIN, Ontario Genomics reveal winners of cumulative $900,000 for food innovation research
Summary
The Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) and Ontario Genomics have revealed the recipients of more than $900,000 in funding through their AcCELLerate-ON competition.AcCELLerate-ON is a cellular agriculture competition that supports the research and development of innovative viable food production methods meant to drive economic growth in Ontario.Applications underwent an evaluation process conducted by an external panel of eight judges with expertise in cellular agriculture, the food and beverage industry, technology, science, market andcommercial viability, and social sciences.A spokesperson for Ontario Genomics told BetaKit that CFIN is contributing $350,000 and Ontario Genomics is providing $175,000 to the overall prize pot.The four winning research projects are: Ardra Inc., Cell Ag Tech, Evolved, and the University of Toronto (UofT). With funding from AcCELLerate-ON, Ardra plans to reach pilot-scale for heme production, validation of their key ingredients by these potential customers, and to establish a clear path to market.Winning $150,000, Toronto-based Cell Ag Tech is working with biotech company Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) to grow snapper cells in 2D and 3D, laying the foundation for commercial-scale production and commercialization. Evolved said that the proteomic dataset for conventional pork will be made open-source for access in the cellular agriculture ecosystem.UofTs research project is being led by biomedical engineering professor Michael Garton and in collaboration with lab-grown meat manufacturer Myo Palate. Garton, along with his research team, proposes to design synthetic gene circuits that can be integrated with the initial stem cells and direct muscle transformation and maturation processes, omitting the need for external agents. It supports over 110 active projects, 500 partnerships, and claims to have secured $1.34 billion in follow-on investments for projects.UPDATE (06/05/2022): A previous version of this article stated that Cell Ag Tech is working with American therapeutics technology provider Cytiva.