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“Microbe is like a person. It takes a decade to get to know it,” says senior researcher Epp Songisepp, who develops bacteria for food supplements and animal feed.
At Tartu Science Park, Songisepp and her colleagues at the bio competence centre BioCC are searching for promising strains in what she calls a microbial “beauty contest.” “We look for microbes with special characteristics among a vast array of candidates,” she explains. Sometimes, she’s looking for one trait and discovers another entirely.
During Estonian–Swedish research, a healthy child became the unlikely source of a remarkable microbe. Songisepp’s lab was hunting for immune-boosting bacteria but instead found one that lowers blood pressure. They named it TENSIA. Today, it’s added to milk and cheese and sold in grocery stores.
BioCC promotes human and animal health using microbes developed and produced in Estonia, says CEO Ene Tammsaar. They run clinical trials with functional foods and supplements to confirm their effects. So far, the team has developed eight products. Five bacteria have patents, and seven more are in development.
They’ve now begun developing Estonia’s first postbiotics, Tammsaar shared.
What is a postbiotic?
You may have heard of anti- and probiotics, maybe even prebiotics. But what is a postbiotic? The terms come from Latin. Antibiotics kill microbes. Probiotics are live, health-promoting microbes. Prebiotics are non-digestible fibers that feed beneficial bacteria. But post- means “after life”. Postbiotics are intentionally inactivated microbes. They’re used in food, supplements, and cosmetics where live bacteria aren’t allowed. They benefit people who can’t consume live microbes due to conditions like severely weakened immunity (HIV/AIDS, chemotherapy), certain illnesses (e.g., pancreatitis), or recent surgeries.
One of their most studied benefits is immunological. They help maintain or strengthen the immune system. Even after they’re inactivated, the microbes leave behind vitamins and bioactive compounds like short-chain fatty acids, enzymes, peptides, and metabolites.
Both probiotics and postbiotics came to Europe from Japan. “There’s a long tradition of plant-based foods and fermentation in their culture,” says Songisepp. The ideas just moved slowly westward. First came probiotics, then postbiotics.
Bringing products to market faster
Scaling up microbes from lab to market
Senior researcher Merle Rätsep says the goal is to develop both the postbiotics and the technology behind them, and to explore how to enhance foods with them. BioCC will also conduct clinical trials to study their health effects.
After a product is developed in the lab, it’s tested on animals and then on healthy adult volunteers. The next challenge is scaling up. For that, BioCC has partnered with applied research centre Metrosert.
Kaupo Reede, head of Metrosert’s biorefining unit, says scaling is needed to reach a scientific prototype. “In the lab, they use one- or ten-litre reactors. Then we scale up to 50, 500, even 5000 litres,” he said and explained that once a product works at a larger scale, industrial production becomes possible.
This is Metrosert’s first experience scaling postbiotics. Until now, Estonia relied on facilities in other European countries. Doing it locally saves time and money, helping Estonian companies bring products to market faster.
It’s crucial to see how microbes behave in industrial settings. The microbe must be functional, stable, and commercially viable. Rätsep compares it to a child: “At home, she behaves one way. Put her in a big class, and she acts differently. It’s the same with microbes. In one host, they behave one way. In another, differently. They’re living organisms. They have character.”
After scaling, these products reach pharmacies and shop shelves. But science doesn’t stop there. Customer feedback can lead to new insights. For example, a supplement that lowers blood pressure was later found to help pregnant women with elevated blood pressure. That discovery opened up a new research direction, a proof that, like humans, bacteria can keep surprising us, even after years of study.
This article is written by Marian Männi. This article was funded by the European Regional Development Fund through Estonian Research Council.
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