Darwin takes part in a commercial initiative of precision nutrition based on the intestinal microbiome

21/01/2019

The Valencian biotechnological company performs microbiome tests for a personalized nutrition service that is marketed under the brand '39ytu'

Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence, installed in the University of Valencia Science Park, has established a collaboration agreement with the Instituto Español de Nutrición Personalizada whereby it will perform the necessary microbiome tests for a personalized nutrition service that is commercialized under the brand '39ytu'.

"Just as personalized nutrition services currently available in the market are typically based on the analysis of the human genome, now a service based on the microbiome has been commercialized in Spain" said the Chief Scientific Officer of Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence, Cristina Vilanova.

"What we do is analyzing the genetic material of the microorganism communities of the intestine in order to detect deviations that are involved in some health states. We consider these deviations taking as reference the normal microbiome of the European healthy population", explained Javier Pascual, director of the Microbial Biotechnology Department, who has indicated as a concrete example: "Imagine that we detected that the altered microorganisms of the analyzed sample are related with an increase in cholesterol. In that case, we should recommend a proper diet to solve this problem."

That is precisely the role of the Instituto Español de Nutrición Personalizada, to perform the personalized nutrition service based on the results of the microbiome test. "In the case that you have any alteration, we offer personalized combinations of food supplements with live microorganisms and bioactive ingredients," they explain.

In addition to the contribution of Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence, the 39ytu service has the collaboration of the Extraordinary Chair Central Lechera Asturiana -UCM Training and Research in Nutrition and Education for Health, the dairy company Capsa Food and the software development company Sngular.