Posted on January 4th, 2009 by Craig Maltby, Editor
Single-cell microfactories for immune balance
I am reluctant to get into too much egghead science in this space, but this is too fascinating and relevant to our cause 
to pass up. A recent Newsweek story trumpets the scientific advances of something called “synthetic biology.” It describes how a Berkeley chemical engineer is taking a simple yeast cell and turning it into a mini factory to produce an affordable, scalable treatment for malaria, which kills millions in third-world countries every year.
The concept is very applicable to how the immune balance agent in EpiCor is produced; taking the common saccharomyces cerevisiae cell, applying precise, proprietary fermentation technology and natural growth factors, and capturing and precisely drying the fermentate to a potent natural bioactive compound that improves human health. As with the Newsweek story, the EpiCor story is one of adding innovative processes and proprietary technology to a naturally-occcuring compound that results in a unique, efficacious health application.
A key difference between the two is that there is no genetic engineering with EpiCor. And EpiCor is a natural, food-grade ingredient, not a pharmaceutical. Still, the similarities are striking, as they say.
May 21st, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Is Epicor wise to take if you have Ulcerative Colitis? I know this product ” modulates” the immune system but would it be theraputic to take. Does this product modulate inflammatory markers ie. TNF-a? Also why is your product different than ” Moducare” which they also claim it modulates? Any help would be very much appreciated. Thank you
Jason
May 26th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Jason: Thanks for your comment. I’m going to take a stab at the first part of your question and say that regarding EpiCor, to the best of my knowledge, no peer-reviewed, journal-published research has addressed the concept of EpiCor and a possible therapeutic effect on ulcerative colitis. As for tumor necrosis factor (TNF), I will get an Embria scientist to respond. Be watching this post and comments section for that response. Or, I may just make a blog post out of the answer as well. If you’d like, I’m glad to email you the response as well. I am unfamiliar with Moducare, and a quick search shows me it’s derived from pine-based plant sterols. This is different than the EpiCor raw material and process, which relies on a unique multinutrient natural fermentate coupled with a proprietary culture growth and drying process that renders the final ingredient.
May 28th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
HI Jason: Here is an additional thought from Dr. Stuart Reeves, research and development director at Embria Health Sciences, the manufacturer of EpiCor:
“We have seen indications in human clinical trials that inflammatory markers are reduced, and are following this up in our next human clinical. However, we have NOT looked at TNF-alpha in any human clinical.
We have looked at artificially induced inflammation in animal trials, and EpiCor had a strong anti-inflammatory effect in these two trials”