Totality Biosciences uses a plant‑based production platform to engineer food crops that biosynthesize the full spectrum of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). By moving HMO manufacturing to agriculture, the company lowers cost and scales supply of these complex sugars, enabling their use as functional ingredients in food and medical products for gut and immune health across the lifespan. This approach addresses the current bottleneck of limited, expensive HMO sources.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) have proven health benefits for gut and immune function, but their complex structures make them expensive and difficult to produce at scale, limiting their use beyond infant nutrition.
Solution
Totality Biosciences addresses this gap by engineering food crops to biosynthesize the full spectrum of HMOs using a plant‑based, photosynthetic production platform. The approach leverages agricultural scale to generate large volumes of high‑purity HMOs at lower cost than traditional fermentation or chemical synthesis. Produced HMOs can be extracted and formulated as functional ingredients for food and pharmaceutical applications, extending their health benefits to consumers of all ages. By integrating crop engineering with downstream purification, the company creates a sustainable supply chain that unlocks the therapeutic potential of HMOs for gut microbiome support, pathogen inhibition, and immune modulation.
Target Audience
Primary customers are food manufacturers, nutraceutical companies, and pharmaceutical developers seeking to incorporate clinically validated HMOs into products for gut health, immune support, and disease prevention.
Features
- Genetic modification of staple crops to express the enzymatic pathways required for complete HMO biosynthesis
- Photosynthetic production system that enables agricultural‑scale output with reduced manufacturing overhead
- Extraction and purification processes designed to retain the structural integrity and bioactivity of diverse HMO molecules
- Capability to produce a broad portfolio of HMOs, matching the natural composition found in human breast milk
- Supply chain model that supports integration of HMOs into food products, dietary supplements, and medical formulations