May 14, 2024

Biotech company MicroBioGen to present on use of yeast to produce aquafeed at Australian event

MicroBioGen, an Australian industrial biotechnology company, will be presenting on opportunities for producing sustainable, alternative aquafeed using yeast technology, at this week's international aquaculture conference, Aqua Farm 2024, which will be held in Australia.

MicroBioGen chief executive officer Geoff Bell will discuss how the company's innovative yeast platform technology, based on improving the industrial capabilities of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, can be leveraged to transform industrial waste and side streams into valuable single cell protein (SCP), optimised as a fishmeal replacement. Bell will be presenting on day one of the event in the Innovative Alternative Proteins session and join the subsequent panel discussion.

After its inaugural success last year, Aqua Farm brings together aquaculture industry professionals, leading academics, scientists, farmers and policy makers from around the world for a three-day conference in Australia. It provides a platform to discuss concerns facing aquaculture, facilitate collaboration and confer the latest findings, trends and technologies across the industry.

This year's event will be held on May 15-17 in Surfers Paradise, Queensland.

MicroBioGen's non-GM yeast technology offers a groundbreaking solution in transforming large-scale industrial waste and side streams into sustainable, high-quality protein. This technology harnesses waste products such as glycerol, organic acids and residual sugars from ethanol and biodiesel production, as well as lactose from dairy processing, to produce bioavailable protein for fish and animal feeds, thereby promoting environmental sustainability and economic efficiency in aquaculture.

In developing a protein rich SCP alternative to fishmeal that can be produced from abundant waste products, MicroBioGen's breakthrough provides a cost-effective, scalable solution to fortify aquafeeds with sustainably sourced, high-quality protein, the company noted. Additional benefits include a balanced amino acid profile and higher levels of natural, beneficial enzymes that aid in the absorption of nutrients.

Bell said: "For nearly two decades, MicroBioGen has developed yeast technology for industrial purposes aimed at improving our partners and their customers' process efficiency, economics and sustainability. Here, we enable the transformation of what was once low- and negative-value waste into a high-quality protein that can serve as a fishmeal replacement. In short, we help global industries make more with less, in a more efficient and sustainable way.

"We are excited to be developing opportunities for alternative fish feed and leveraging the same industry-leading "Yeast Innovation as a Service" that we deliver to our global partners in various industries. Our technology has already been deployed in other industries such as biofuels. We look forward to working with new partners to create a cost-effective, high-margin protein ingredient for aquafeed that can be produced at scale."

- MicroBioGen