Renaissance BioScience Corp. (RBSC) has entered into a partnership with Mitacs for a multi-year, US$1.44 million research and development project.
Mitacs, a national not-for-profit research and training organization, will provide matching funding to the RBSC project to support the development of next-generation, systematic tools and methods for expanding, screening and selecting biodiversity in non-genetically modified organism (non-GMO) industrial yeast strains.
In this project, RBSC will invest in the R&D of next-generation yeast-strain development tools that will facilitate the high-throughput robust optimization and specialization of yeast for the food, beverage, and feed industries.
This project will enable RBSC to accelerate the development of novel yeast strains that address industrial process and product challenges, offer efficiency gains and process optimization opportunities, and introduce the potential for new product flavors, aromas and functions, all while also meeting end-user demand for non-GMO ingredients.
In addition to the work done directly by RBSC, the project will be facilitated by collaboration with three University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers in the fields of yeast genetics and biochemistry: Dr. Corey Nislow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences; Dr. Thibault Mayor of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; and Dr. Chris Loewen of the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences.
Over the four-year duration of the project, it is expected that up to 20 post-doctoral and graduate research scientist positions (equivalent to an estimated eight full time employees) will be created in RBSC and at UBC to conduct this research.
Recruitment for these research positions is ongoing.
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