Amyris, Inc., a leader in the development and production of sustainable, fermentation-derived ingredients in the markets of Health & Wellness, Clean Beauty and Flavors & Fragrances announces that it plans to partner with BGI, the world’s largest genomics company. The companies intend to apply their synthetic biology platforms in a new joint venture to discover, develop and commercialize human microbiome-targeting health and nutrition products in Greater China.

The joint venture seeks to combine Amyris’s best-in-class science and technology with BGI’s gene sequencing expertise, data and analytics. The goal will be to develop health products for the Greater China market using natural products including traditional Chinese medicinal ingredients produced with sustainable resources and through Amyris’s proprietary clean fermentation capabilities.

Recent studies have shown that the human microbiome, which comprises all the microorganisms living in the human gut and on the human skin, play a significant role in human health and diseases including obesity and Type-2 diabetes. Starting with the ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine and herbal supplements, where strong data exists to support the linkage to a healthy gut microbiome, the new joint venture between Amyris and BGI will focus on developing molecules from sustainable sources that can be manufactured at lower cost than deriving the molecules from sources with limited supply, either economically or socially.