From Consortia to Recombinants: opportunities and challenges facing the next generation of microbials
Posted 24th August 2020 by Liv Sewell
In this blog post I will discuss two themes that I see driving the next generation of live microbe biologicals for agriculture. These are the rational design and delivery of pairs or consortia (which I will define as more than two microbes) and the commercialization of engineered strains.
PROTAC drug discovery – prior preparation and planning
Posted 1st July 2020 by Liv Sewell
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” so said Benjamin Franklin, and as a veteran of early stage drug discovery you can bet that I, like you, have seen my fair share of successes but also more failures than I’d like.
Presentation Slides from the 4th Partnerships in Biocontrol, Biostimulants & Microbiome Congress: USA
Posted 4th December 2019 by Joshua Sewell
At the recent 4th Partnerships in Biocontrol, Biostimulants & Microbiome Congress: USA we heard a number of interesting presentations on how plant and soil microbiome research is identifying microbes to enhance crop productivity and disease resistance.
Thanks to some of our speakers, we have made the following slides discussing the current regulatory landscape from Sarah Caffery, Keith Matthews, and Terry Stone available to view.
A regulatory roadmap for the commercialization of microbial products for agriculture
Posted 4th October 2019 by Joshua Sewell
A major paradigm shift in agricultural production is required to meet the demands of a global world population projected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050. We have to increase crop productivity sustainably while preserving biodiversity, natural resources, and grower income in the context of climate change. To optimize sustainable productivity and profitability on farms, grasslands, and forests, scientists and growers must embrace a holistic, systems-level approach and focus on the complexity within phytobiomes.
Microbial solutions to improve crop growth, crop protection, and crop yield
Posted 12th August 2019 by Jane Williams
Gregory Maloney, Senior Scientist at Novozymes BioAg will be hosting a roundtable discussion at the Partnerships in Biocontrol, Biostimulants & Microbiome Congress: USA on navigating the regulatory landscape of biological product development. We spoke to him ahead of the congress about his work.
Improving crop production through understanding the soil microbiome
Posted 24th July 2019 by Jane Williams
Sarah Strauss is a soil microbial ecologist at the University of Florida. Her interests lie in understanding the interactions between soil microbes and crops, with the hope that improved understanding will benefit crop production.
We spoke to her about her work ahead of her presentation at the 4th Partnerships in Biocontrol, Biostimulants & Microbiome Congress: USA.
The interactions between soil microbes and plants are still very much uncharted territory, which makes it an exciting area of study. This is especially the case for the interactions between soil microbes and crops in agricultural systems. For example, we know that there are bacteria and fungi that can influence plant growth or soil nutrient availability, but most of those studies have been done with only a few plant species or under very specific growing conditions. Much of my research is looking at what interactions are occurring between specific crops in field conditions – and how those interactions might differ based on specific conditions or crops in a farmer’s field.
Unraveling the Regulatory Quagmire of Agrobiologicals
Posted 10th August 2018 by Jane Williams
At the Partnerships in Biocontrol, Biostimulants, & Microbiome: Europe, Peter Jens, Director of Strategic Alliances at Koppert Biological Systems and CEO of AND Biopharma, discussed regulation from product to systems thinking.
He focused specifically on the way in which consumers and citizens have become more vocal on the quality of products, arguing that the current regulatory discussion is fated and different thinking is required.
Here, he explains what he means by ‘different’ kinds of thinking and how this could help unravel the regulatory quagmire of agrochemicals and agrobiologicals.
Selecting a Formulation Type and Package Size for your Biopesticides
Posted 16th July 2018 by Jane Williams
In the final instalment in our series of articles focusing on biopesticide product development, we will be discussing the importance of selecting a formulation type and package size, preferred packaging options, crop specific economics, tank mixability, and tank mixes.