Holomicrobiome research consortium receives support from National Growth Fund
For the first time, a research collaboration between education and private and public partners will conduct large-scale research into the way in which fungi, bacteria and viruses affect the entire Dutch food system, from field to mouth and our intestinal system. The Dutch government reserves an amount of 200 million euros from the National Growth Fund for this new consortium. UvA professor Marten Smidt: ‘We are now looking at the entire food system for the first time.’
The collaboration
16 universities (including UvA), 46 private partners, 11 public partners and 19 supporters unite in the consortium. For more information, visit the project website.
Microbiomes
The research focuses on microbiomes: the collection of billions of bacteria, fungi and viruses that are all around us. Microorganisms in our gut are best known, but microbiomes are everywhere: on our skin, in the soil, in water, in plants and animals. Together they form a microbiological jungle all around us: a holomicrobiome.
Explosive increase
Microbiomes have major effects on the health of humans, animals, plants and the environment. New techniques have recently made it possible to measure, map, understand and predict their composition, functioning and effects. Research into microbiomes is therefore booming. Useful applications are also getting closer, everywhere in the food system: from healthier food to medical treatments, from sustainable and circular agriculture and livestock farming to better soil and water quality and less greenhouse gas and nutrient emissions.
From chemical to natural approach
‘We are increasingly using heavy chemical agents to control our food flow,’ says UvA professor and coordinator of the research project Marten Smidt. “These chemicals seep into our food system or even end up directly on our plates. If we better understand how microbiomes work, we can move from a chemical to a natural approach in all sectors of our food chain.’
Cooperation
‘We are now looking at the complete food system for the first time, across worlds that until now worked and were studied separately,’ says Smidt. The research should lead to major social innovations for all parts of the food system. ‘Companies can innovate based on the research and governments will also be able to develop policy that cuts across domains and sectors, refine their regulations and enforce them with diagnostics much better than they can now. That is only possible if we work together in a large research collaboration like this one.’
National Growth Fund
With the National Growth Fund, the Dutch government will invest €20 billion between 2021 and 2025 in projects that ensure long-term economic growth. Click here for more information on the National Growth Fund.
Other UvA projects in the National Growth Fund
The UvA is a partner in several consortia that receive funding from the National Growth Fund. In this third round, researchers of our Informatics Institute are involved in: