Renaissance BioScience secures Genome BC funding to unlock wild yeast potential
The project will build a large, proprietary library of wild yeast strains and aims to accelerate the discovery and commercialization of natural yeast species for a wide variety of high-value industrial applications.
CANADA – Renaissance BioScience Corp., a global leader in bioengineered yeast that provides solutions for environmental and industrial challenges in the agriculture, food, animal and human health, and energy industries, has secured a CAD $550,000 (US$401,480.75) GeneSolve grant from Genome BC to develop a proprietary wild yeast discovery platform.
The 24-month project partners with Dr Vivien Measday at the University of British Columbia (UBC), leveraging advanced robotic screening, genomics, and AI to analyze over 700 natural yeast strains from diverse environments.
The initiative aims to create a comprehensive, searchable database of genomic and phenotypic data to accelerate the identification of high-performance strains for industrial applications.
The initial focus targets yeasts capable of valorizing waste substrates, converting low-value byproducts into valuable compounds such as enzymes, biosurfactants, emulsifiers, and nutraceuticals.
These outputs promise applications in clean-label foods, sustainable beverages, specialized nutrition, ag-tech, and bioenergy, addressing global demands for circular economy solutions amid rising waste challenges.
Dr John Husnik, Renaissance BioScience’s co-CEO and CSO, highlighted the project’s strategic value: it combines the company’s industrial expertise with UBC’s cutting-edge infrastructure, including high-throughput screening systems and sequencing capabilities, to build a scalable discovery engine.
“By combining our industrial expertise with the Measday Lab’s world-class research infrastructure, we are creating a scalable engine for identifying and validating high-performance yeast strains that can have important industrial applications and drive multiple future revenue streams,” commented Husnik.
This positions Renaissance to strengthen intellectual property, enable AI-driven predictions, and unlock multiple revenue streams from natural, non-GMO innovations that outperform synthetic alternatives.
The collaboration bridges academia and industry, generating datasets for broader biotech advancements while prioritizing commercialization pathways.
Through its partnership with Dr Measday, the company gains access to specialized robotic screening systems, sequencing coordination, and advanced analytical infrastructure for bioprospecting high-value yeast strains.
The project’s initial commercial focus is on identifying yeast strains capable of valorizing waste substrates, thereby transforming low-value byproducts and waste streams into high-value industrial compounds.
Using high-throughput screening, the team will rapidly evaluate large numbers of strains to identify those best suited to specific waste streams.
The most promising candidates will be advanced based on their ability to convert these materials into value-added molecules such as enzymes, biosurfactants, emulsifiers, and nutraceuticals.
These products have applications across food, specialized nutrition, agriculture, energy, and broader industrial markets.
This Genome BC investment underscores public-private synergy in fostering green biotech, with potential ripple effects for global markets, including East Africa’s organic food trends.
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