This is how we converted our idea into a product.
Our project aims at converting engineered probiotic under current research into a calcium supplement ready for the market. Our product targets seniors suffering calcium deficiency and strives to lower the risks of osteoporosis amongst seniors. It improves calcium absorption rate with the help of probiotic colonization in the human intestines. Our product is highly efficient and does not require frequent intake.
Background & Bottleneck:
"Seniors’ bone health matters to all members of society."
Nana fractured her hips at the age of 81. She had a hip replacement surgery at the doctor’s recommendation. But everything has changed. Her six children first took turns to take care of her but soon found the amount of work overwhelming. Complaints were bubbling in each family. The siblings eventually pitched in to hire a full-time nurse to stay with her 24/7 as Chinese families and the seniors themselves almost always prefer staying home for cultural and financial reasons. Grandchildren found Nana’s temper starting to deteriorate along with her appetite. They found a big chunk of their lives missing when no one could pick them up after school or check their homework.
This mirrors what is happening in families across China. China has an estimated 70 million osteoporosis patients as of 2006 and more than 200 million people with lost bone mass.[1] Seniors are vital cogs in a thriving society, and deteriorating quality of life is just a small consequence of fractured bones: working adults will experience immediate emotional, physical and financial burden, children will lose companionship, family activities start to become inconvenient. In short, seniors’ bone health matters to all members of the society.
![puzzle](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/b/ba/T--Fudan--puzzle.png)
Despite the lack of recent epidemiological data, it is estimated that the number of those with osteoporosis and loss of bone mass in China has far exceeded the above figures. Calcium intake is a relatively good way to relieve the symptoms of osteoporosis. At the same time, children and the pregnant population also require a significant amount of calcium supplements. However, for the Chinese population, the bottlenecks are as follows:
- Insufficient daily calcium intake
- Patients usually forget to take supplements
- Calcium supplement pills' unfavorable taste
- Calcium absorption rate drops as the amount of calcium intake increases
- Vegetables contain oxalic acid, which will combine with calcium and precipitate as calcium oxalate, leading to stone formation in the body.
However, the currently popular calcium supplement method on the market is to either adjust diet or consume many calcium supplement pills. The elderly suffer from poor memory or neglect the importance of calcium pills, often forgetting to consume the supplement. Children often refuse to take calcium pills or maintain some diet high in calcium, thus requiring the "liquid calcium" method to ensure sufficient calcium intake. However, this will reduce the amount of other food taken by children, which does not promote healthy growth in the long term. Some studies have shown that insufficient activity will also cause a considerable loss of calcium for pregnant women, and their glomerular filtration ability will enhance as the pregnancy progresses. Thus the frequency of urination will increase as well. The above factors combined, a large amount of urine calcium will be excreted, and calcium deficiency will occur without timely calcium supplementation. Therefore, adjusting the diet structure and supplementing calcium pills are not the best universal methods for the vast population.
Overall, it’s evident that the current market is in urgent need of a supplement method that ensures a high calcium absorption rate over a long period of time. This will avoid frequent intake of a large amount of supplement pills and the precipitation of calcium oxalate. Our product is perfect for tackling these drawbacks.
Market analysis
“residents' calcium intake in most areas of China is highly insufficient, only meeting about half of the required intake”
The Chinese Dietetic Society states that calcium requirements for infants and young children increase with age, from 300mg/day to 800mg/day, and calcium requirement for adolescents reaches 1000mg/day. The amount of calcium adults require is 800mg/day. For those over 50 years of age, this figure reaches 1000mg/day.[2] The amount of calcium required by pregnant women and breastfeeding also increases accordingly. However, several nationwide nutrition surveys have shown that residents' calcium intake in most areas of China is highly insufficient, only meeting about half of the required intake, with the small exception of some coastal and pastoral areas.
The target user of our product is the elderly group. The reason why the elderly need calcium is mainly due to changes in hormone levels when they age. The elderly with calcium deficiency are prone to osteoporosis, increasing the risk of fractures. Globally, more than 200 million are diagnosed with osteoporosis, and Asia has a high incidence rate of osteoporosis. In China alone, about 70 million people over 50 years of age suffer from osteoporosis, and those in their 40’s are also at great risks.[1]
According to our survey, most consumers are using some sort of calcium supplement product. 37% of the respondents personally know over three seniors who experienced falls and fractures, 41% know one to three seniors with described. The results of another survey showed that the main factors consumers consider when purchasing calcium supplements are: product effectiveness (58.8%); product quality (51.5%); calcium absorption rate (47.8%); price (45.8%) and brand (28.3%). Although the prices of our products are relatively high, a large amount of consumers value effectiveness and quality of the products over price. Overall, we have a large potential market in China.
Product Analysis
Our product is a genetically engineered probiotic that can colonize the intestine and secrete a short peptide. This short peptide increases the amount of soluble calcium by binding to calcium ions, thus increasing the absorption rate of calcium in the intestine and achieving calcium supplementation.
Firstly, the product is designed for oral use, and our main target user is the elderly. We worked to a great extent to ensure the safety of our product:
- The product chassis is probiotic and does not produce substances harmful to the human body;
- The short peptides secreted are natural short peptides in sea cucumber tissues, which are not harmful to the human body;
- The expression level of short peptides has a threshold, preventing any excessive calcium absorption that might lead to hypercalcemia;
- There is a kill switch in the probiotic, and the probiotic will commit suicide upon leaving the human intestinal environment.
Based on relevant research, the product is expected to increase calcium absorption by about 100%. In this case, the daily calcium absorption of the elderly can reach the level recommended by the Nutrition Society in China.
Compared with other calcium supplement products such as calcium pills, our product has its unique advantages.
Calcium pills are still exogenous calcium supplements. The amounts of calcium absorbed from calcium pills differ amongst individuals, making it challenging to ensure the effectiveness of calcium supplementation, and there is a risk of excessive calcium supplementation. Our product takes into account the dietary habits of Chinese people, calculates the amount of calcium absorption required, and sets an absorption threshold value to ensure sufficient calcium absorption while ensuring safety.
From the user’s perspective, calcium pills need to be taken daily, which is very inconvenient for the elderly who need regular calcium supplementation. At the same time, the experience of consuming many calcium pills is not great; our probiotic colonizes the intestines and functions within it, meaning that our product has a long-term effect. In theory, the product will always be effective as long as the intestinal flora is stable. Therefore, our product has a great advantage for the elderly population and stands out from market competition. A more detailed competitiveness comparison is demonstrated in this figure.
![competitive analysis](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/fa/T--Fudan--competition_analysis.png)