Multifunctionalized Microalgae (MM) - A novel and flexible platform technology for maximising feed/energy conversion ratios and treating severe infections in livestock

Production-purpose antibiotics are one of the great Faustian bargains of the modern era: mankind has traded

increased livestock yields today for AMR tomorrow. We propose that microalgae can be readily engineered to

express a wide range of naturally occurring antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory compounds which can both

substitute for production-purpose antibiotics as a means of maximizing feed/energy conversion ratios and treat

serious bacterial infections. Our objective in this project is to unequivocally demonstrate this using multi-

functionalized microalgae (MM) modified to accumulate two such agents in a series of rigorous field-trials in

both healthy and E.coli (K99)-infected calves. Our project is innovative in that MM can not only express these &

numerous other functional biochemical compounds, but also constitute a uniquely low-cost and practicable

platform technology. 350 million Chinese still live on less than $3/day and microalgae is the only combined

expression/delivery system capable of synthesizing the full range of bioactive agents required for managing the

complexity of intestinal flora which can be cultivated by both industrial-scale and LMIC artisanal farmers alike.