Loam Bio Pty. Ltd., an Australia/U.S. company with a focus on reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide through innovative agricultural practices, has funded research at 蜜桃直播 Professor Dr. Animesh Ray鈥榮 laboratory on understanding the role of soil fungi in carbon assimilation within the soil microbial ecosystem. The Ray laboratory has been leveraging its genomics and systems biology expertise in continuing collaboration with .
Loam Bio had previously supported a year-long (TMP) at 蜜桃直播 in 2020-21 and a three-month pilot project in 2021 in Ray鈥檚 laboratory. The company currently sponsors 蜜桃直播 PhD in Applied Life Sciences student Tristan Yang, who is working in collaboration with Ray.
鈥淪tudents at 蜜桃直播 are interested in more than just an advanced degree; they want to make a difference in the world,鈥� said Shannon Braun, senior director of corporate partnerships for 蜜桃直播.
鈥淭his collaboration connects 蜜桃直播 and our students to science that can indeed have an impact in their lifetime and highlights how the skills gained at 蜜桃直播 can be used outside our more traditional outcomes鈥攔oles in the life science industry and healthcare.鈥�
This new funding from Loam Bio will help cement the emerging effort at 蜜桃直播 by Ray and Dr. Ilya Tolstorukov, 蜜桃直播 research professor, on reducing the burden of anthropogenic carbon (carbon associated with human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and fertilization) on the atmosphere.
Ray has had a personal and professional relationship with Dr. Abed Chaudhury, the Head of Scientific Innovation for Loam Bio, for more than 40 years. Chaudhury retired early from Australia鈥檚 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation to conduct innovative field studies in agricultural biotechnology. He eventually joined forces with Guy Hudson, the Co-Founder, and CEO of what is now Loam Bio.
While the atmosphere contains too much carbon鈥攃ontributing heavily to the greenhouse effect鈥攖he soil contains too little carbon. Loam Bio started when a group of farmers discovered that a large fraction of atmospheric carbon dioxide could be trapped in the soil by microbial fungi, thus reducing atmospheric carbon while improving soil health as carbon influences the infiltration and storage of water, drives nutrient cycles, and eases dependence on fertilizers.
鈥淏acteria and nematodes within the soil interact with the fungi and plant roots, making a very complex ecosystem鈥攚hich plays an essential role in carbon flow,鈥� Ray said. 鈥淪ome studies have demonstrated through small-scale experiments that it is possible to manipulate this microbial ecosystem to reduce the outflow of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse effect gasses such as methane, which contributes nearly 40 times as much to the greenhouse effect compared to carbon dioxide on a per mass basis.鈥�
Loam Bio uses biotechnology to enhance these natural processes, utilizing microbial carbon sequestration. Microbial processes are more efficient than other means of capturing carbon because they do not require additional equipment, land, or energy.
Ray comes from similar roots as Chaudhury, having earned his PhD in microbial genetics from Melbourne鈥檚 Monash University. As a professor, research in his laboratory led to the discovery of the first known maternal effect embryo pattern formation gene in plants. From 1999 to 2001, he directed research programs on regulating gene expression and gene targeting at a plant biotechnology start-up in San Diego.
Thus, when Chaudhury approached Ray to see if he could help organize research to assist the bioinformatics team of Loam Bio, it seemed like a natural fit.
鈥淭hey sponsored a TMP, which was wildly successful,鈥� Ray said. 鈥淥ur TMP got the best team award in 2021 at 蜜桃直播. With the help of the students, we set up Loam Bio鈥檚 main computational group.鈥�
蜜桃直播 student Yang, MBS 鈥�21, PhD 鈥�24, served as the lead for the TMP. He now works full-time for Loam Bio as a bioinformatics specialist. In September 2021, Yang joined Ray鈥檚 lab as a sponsored PhD student, furthering their efforts to better understand how soil fungi can contribute to carbon assimilation.
Initially, Loam Bio funded a 2021 pilot project in Ray鈥檚 lab to determine whether some computationally-predicted metabolomic pathways that may participate in carbon sequestration in the soil exist.
鈥淭hen they came up with more extensive funding for the next six months to advance this to a more practical level,鈥� Ray said. 鈥淚f we succeed at this stage, we will consider further funding.鈥�
Loam Bio鈥檚 goal is to utilize the information to ultimately enhance plant productivity while reducing carbon in the atmosphere. This would be a win for both the environment and food production.