San Francisco-based biotechnology company Brightseed has announced a $1.6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to use AI technologies to find treatments for nutrient absorption deficiencies in pregnant women.

The grant will enable Brightseed to focus its proprietary AI platform, Forager, on identifying and validating natural bioactive compounds that target environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) in undernourished pregnant and lactating women. EED is a poorly understood condition caused in part by micronutrient deficiencies, undernutrition, certain gut infections, and abnormal gut microbiota. While usually asymptomatic, in infants EED is associated with nutrient malabsorption, stunting, and wasting, which can have long-term effects on the health and development of affected children. In 2021, Brightseed received a $200,000 grant from the foundation to fund a proof-of-concept to apply the Forager technology to maternal gut health.

“Our proprietary technology enables us to develop scalable, nature-based solutions that were never previously possible,” said Brightseed co-founder and CEO Sofia Elizondo, “and by analyzing plant raw material from the local regions impacted most by undernutrition, our aim is that these sources will be both accessible and affordable.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/FatCamera)