Dongshin University Selected for the 'Science and Technology Project Opening the Region's Future' Program

Ministry of Science and ICT Provides 11.5 Billion KRW Support... Collaboration Among Jeonnam Province, Naju City, and Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine to Create New Growth Engines

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Dongshin University announced on the 1st that it has been finally selected as a recipient of the "2021 Science and Technology Project Opening the Future of the Region," supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation of Dongshin University, serving as the lead research institution, will receive approximately 11.5 billion KRW in funding over the next five years in collaboration with Jeonnam Province, Naju City, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, and Jeonnam Bio Industry Promotion Agency to embark on the "Development of Microbiome-based Smart Well-Aging Technology."

The microbiome refers to various microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses living in the human body. Recently, its association with various diseases has been revealed, leading to extensive research on its use as a material in cosmetics, health foods, and pharmaceutical industries.

Dongshin University explained that the core of this project is the microbiome-based health age measurement algorithm and fundamental technology for health age measurement developed by the project team for Koreans.

The project team plans to combine this fundamental technology with the abundant natural resources of the Jeonnam region to develop microbiome-based health age measurement programs and microbiome food and pharmaceuticals effective for intestinal, skin, and vascular health and longevity.

To this end, microbiomes of local residents will be collected and analyzed through Dongshin University Korean Medicine Hospital, then converted into big data, and microbiome health information services will be operated in cooperation with local companies.

They plan to recommend personalized health functional foods and cosmetics, analyze their usage effects, and based on the results, develop high value-added microbiome food and pharmaceuticals.

According to the "Global Red Bio Market Status and Outlook" report published by the Biotechnology Policy Research Center, the global microbiome market size is estimated at 105 trillion KRW.

Regarding this, Professor Na Changsoo of Dongshin University College of Korean Medicine said, "The reason why products and health foods using natural new materials failed to gain traction and disappeared is that, unlike specialized pharmaceuticals, personalized diagnosis and prescription were difficult to implement," adding, "Through this project, we will solve this problem, take the lead in the domestic microbiome market, and lay the foundation to enter the global market worth 100 trillion KRW."

President Choi Il stated, "Based on Dongshin University's research capabilities and infrastructure, we expect to contribute to creating high value-added in the regional bioindustry overall, generating new regional growth engines, achieving win-win development with participating local companies, creating local employment, and improving the quality of life for local residents."

Meanwhile, Dongshin University has selected natural product bio as a university specialization field and is focusing on its development, striving to nurture future talents who contribute to regional development as a regional education and research-centered university.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.