PathoGelTrap Project

We are proud to announce the launch of the PathoGelTrap project, as members of the project’s ideation and leadership team. It is a revolutionary technology that will enable the prevention and ecological control of infectious diseases in aquaculture.

PathoGelTrap was founded on the bed of the European Framework Programme for R&I, Horizon 2020. Under the title: “New Blue Revolution through a pioneering pathogen capture technology based on hydrogel-forming proteins bioselectives”, the idea is to transform the future of aquaculture with a technology of capture of pathogens capable of targeting and eliminating specific pathogens from the water in fish farms without affecting the fish and avoiding the use of antibiotics.

The project is coordinated by Mr. Enrique Amaré (CEO of SmartWater) and Dr. Mariano Carrión-Vázquez (Principal Investigator of the Cajal Institute – CSIC). It was launched on June 1, 2020 and will work on the development of a dynamic tool using current knowledge about the unique properties of proteins subjected to Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation (LLPS; a phenomenon also called biomolecular condensation), which eventually forms hydrogels. The first steps will focus on making a rational design of a chimeric biomaterial that binds an LLPS protein with an afibody, which is a small and robust protein capable of binding to target molecules (such as microbial antigens) with high affinity, mimicking monoclonal antibodies. This biosensor material will be able to recognize and catch fish pathogens in different aquatic environments and conditions.

The PathoGelTrap project brings together renowned experts in Mathematics and Informatics (computational biology-Instituto Formazione Professionale Assistenti Notarili, risk assessment modelling-University College Dublin, intelligent monitoring systems-SW – Technology Machines Systems), Biotechnology (protein engineering, biochemistry, biophysics-Higher Council for Scientific Research), Animal Health Sciences (fish health and welfare-Zooprophylattic Institute  Sperimentalle delle Venezie) and Social Sciences (Economic, Social and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment-Vertech Group).

“We dream of a system (filter, gel, dust) that does not disturb fish or the environment, that can catch pathogens before they affect production. It will immensely complement our technology for smart and ecological aquaculture,” Mr. Enrique Amaré, CEO SmartWater.

“In this exciting project, we plan to combine into a single hybrid protein the fascinating ability of certain proteins (including functional amyloids involved in memory consolidation) to form biomolecular condensates with the recognition capabilities of affibodies, so that the resulting green engineering biosystem is efficient at catching fish pathogens in water,”Dr. Mariano Carrión-Vázquez, Instituto Cajal – CSIC.

Project Website: PathoGelTrap