Proposed Implementation
Overview
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are both typical ω-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). EPA is commonly known as "vascular scavenger", DHA is known as "brain gold". At present, EPA and DHA have huge marker in in health food and infant formula milk powder.
Currently, high-quality PUFAs are primarily extracted from deepwater fish oil, however, the resource shortage and unsustainable of deepwater fish limits the production sale of PUFAs to meet the rising market demand. Therefore, it is significant to develop a sustainable and safety method for high-quality PUFAs production.
Our team plans to genetically engineer Y. lipolytica to produce ω-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty (PUFAs) acids rich in EPA and DHA. The crude fermentation product can be made into animal feed, and the purified EPA and DHA can be used as human health products.
Target population
EPA and DHA have been reported to be beneficial to human health, including:
1. Regulate blood lipid, clean up thrombosis, prevent blood coagulation, prevent cerebral thrombosis, cerebral hemorrhage and stroke.
2. Prevent arthritis, relieve gout and asthma, temporarily relieve swelling and pain caused by arthritis.
3. Prevent Alzheimer's disease, nourish the brain and improve memory.
4. Improve vision and prevent presbyopia.
5. Maintain the retina.
Therefore, EPA and DHA are applicable to:
1. Patients with thrombosis, cerebral hemorrhage or stroke,
2. People with hypertension, hyperlipidemia and high cholesterol,
3, People with visual decline and presbyopia trend,
4. People with heart disease and arteriosclerosis symptoms,
5. People with arthritis, gout and asthma,
6. Patients with diabetes complications need to be prevented and treated,
7. Normal people with pursuit of health.
Notably, Supplements that contain EPA are not recommended for infants and young children, because they disrupt the balance of DHA and EPA in the body during early development. Therefore, pregnant women should be cautious when taking fish oil supplements.
Our advantage is that we can produce EPA and DHA simultaneously or only one of them by microbial fermentation according to demand, which makes our products suitable for the needs of different age groups. Moreover, our products have low growing cost and selling price, and we believe they will be welcomed by the market.
Target users
Health care products factory
According to the survey, EPA and DHA are positioned mainly as premium health care products in the market. Due to the large population base of China, especially the large number of the elderly and young people, people are paying more and more attention to health care. So the market potential of EPA and DHA in China's health products is huge. The most important is that the use of deep-sea fish oil extraction of EPA and DHA is far from meeting the market demand. In conclusion, the development of clean and efficient microbial methods for the synthesis of EPA and DHA has g economic prospects.
2. Feed mills
The purified EPA and DHA synthesized by Y. lipolytica are used directly as health supplements for human consumption, meanwhile the crude ferments can also be used as feed for livestock and poultry. Chickens fed this diet can produce eggs rich in EPA and DHA. The eggs are marketed as premium grade and therefore will cost more than regular eggs. After investigation, we found that people are generally willing to accept EPA and DHA eggs with health functions. To sum up, we have great prospects for targeting the feed mill market.
Fig.1 Proposed implementation
Safety
The genetically engineered Y. lipolytica used in our project could be accidentally released into the environment and then cause biological contamination.
First of all, Y. lipolytica is a widely recognized strain for industrial production, so it has strong safety. In addition, we will strictly inactivate the waste cultures from the experiment and production process at high temperature and pressure conditions, and then clean up the waste according to the requirements of the relevant authorities.
Our engineering strains will be strictly kept in the laboratory before being allowed by laws and policies of competent authorities. It will not be used in animal feeding experiments.
Other challenges
According to the implementation regulations of the Drug Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, we have to apply for a license to ensure the legality of our activities.
Theoretically, microbial synthesis of EPA and DHA in our project is promising for industrialization and marketization, but the related products need to undergo rigorous safety reviews to ensure the safety of animals and people. (We will abide by iGEM's safety and responsibility rules and will not conduct any in vivo experiments outside the scope of iGEM competition regulations)
Poor or biased understanding of genetic engineering and related derivatives by potential end users should also be taken into account during implementation. To this end, we should conduct publicity and promotion campaigns to reduce their bias or misunderstanding.