Seed Health

What if a microbe could help curb the climate crisis? Meet UTEX-3222 (Cyanobacterium aponinum var vulcano), A.K.A. Chonkus, a cyanobacterium uncovered during our flagship expedition with The Two Frontiers Project to the volcanic CO₂ seeps of Vulcano, Sicily. 🌋 The findings from this discovery—now published in American Society for Microbiology’s Applied and Environmental Microbiology—reveal a microbe capable of contributing to the future of carbon capture and inspiring new innovations in microbial research. In 2022, our environmental research initiative, SeedLabs, partnered with The Two Frontiers Project to tap ‘extreme’ microbes that could unlock new methods of carbon capture. On our first flagship expedition, the team of researchers sampled water, sediment, and other microbial sources around volcanic CO₂ seeps. This led to the identification of a novel photosynthetic cyanobacterium highly efficient at consuming CO₂, demonstrating traits that could potentially outperform leading carbon-capturing organisms. Chonkus is like other photosynthetic cyanobacteria in that it consumes CO₂ and incorporates it into its cells. However, what sets UTEX-3222 apart is its rapid, high-density growth, which allows it to consume CO₂ more efficiently than most other similar currently known cyanobacteria. It is also 5 to 10 times larger than the average microbial cell, allowing it to sink quickly after consuming CO₂, sequestering the carbon away at the bottom of the ocean (or the test tube, so it can be captured!). 🧪😉 “Feasibly, if you can use the mechanisms through which Chonkus and other similar microbes consume CO₂, you can do a couple of different things: You can either sequester carbon—some people suggest sinking it to the bottom of the ocean—or capture it from the air and bury it somewhere… Alternatively, you could focus on turning carbon into something valuable. For example, even as people continue driving cars and emitting CO₂, microbes could capture some of that carbon and turn it into useful products, like bioplastics or, one day, biofuels—anything a microbe can produce,” explains Dr. Braden Tierney, Executive Director of The Two Frontiers Project. This work wouldn’t be possible without the contributions of all of the project’s collaborators. A special thank you and congratulations to the researchers from Università degli Studi di Palermo (Drs. Marco Milazzo and Paola Quatrini), Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute at Harvard University (Drs. George Church and Max Schubert), The Mason Lab, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Drs. Francesco Italiano and Alessandro Gattuso), and the local community of Vulcano Island. 🤿 Dive into the findings from this research: https://lnkd.in/e7ABJgFh

A call to our community: Vote for VS-01™. Earlier this year, we launched VS-01™—our first vaginal synbiotic clinically validated to rapidly establish an optimal vaginal microbiome—and everyday we hear stories about its life-changing impact. We’re humbled to share that VS-01™ has been selected as a finalist for The Anthem Awards in the Health Category, which honors purpose and mission-driven work that advances medical treatments, supports patients, promotes awareness, and introduces innovative solutions. Voting for the Anthem Community Voice Awards is now open until October 31st, and we’d love your support! Vote here: https://bit.ly/3BZ7oaJ Learn more about VS-01™: https://bit.ly/3BZTSne

Could your microwave help fight climate change? We think so. 🤓 Today we announce the launch of The Extremophile Campaign: In Your Home—a community science project in partnership with The Two Frontiers Project (2FP) and CitSci.org, supported by our environmental research initiative SeedLabs. Together we’re inviting community scientists across the U.S. to explore the extreme environments within their homes—think freezers, water heaters, and other places where microbes have adapted to harsh conditions. Though household environments may seem ordinary, these "everyday extremes" mirror future environmental challenges our planet might face, and the microbes living there could be key to unlocking future climate solutions. This project builds on our partnership with The Two Frontiers Project where we set out to answer a big question: Can we leverage microbes to capture CO₂ and transform it into something useful? On our first expedition, the 2FP team discovered a novel cyanobacterium highly efficient at consuming CO₂, demonstrating traits that could potentially outperform leading carbon-capturing organisms, particularly in terms of biomass production (more on this soon 😉) By studying extremophile microbes, we hope to unlock breakthroughs in carbon sequestration, ecosystem restoration, and CO₂ upcycling for sustainable products. Curious to learn more and get involved with The Extremophiles Campaign: In Your Home? Sign up here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dnTEJU6i

We’re proud to share that we were honored as a finalist for the 2024 Greater Good Awards in the “Better Future” category for our work through SeedLabs, our environmental research initiative. 🌎 Thank you Digiday, Glossy, Modern Retail, and WorkLife for recognizing us as an organization that’s making a tangible impact for human and planetary health—we're committed to realizing the myriad ways in which we can leverage microbes to safeguard the long-term future for the next generation. See all the finalists here: https://lnkd.in/e7MNcKSN

🔎 In Search Of: Associate Creative Director, Copy Here at Seed, copy is the bridge that connects culture, brand, and growth—across platforms and mediums, to build community. We are looking for a Superorganism who excels at creative big-thinking, 360 campaign development, and always-on copy that translates science and product into compelling human narratives that connect to real people, in real life. Someone who thrives between different worlds: language and art, left brain and right, creativity and scale, ideation and production. If this sounds like you or someone you know, please click the link for more details. https://lnkd.in/e-PKeje5

Calling all who are fascinated with the future of health. Join us at Eudēmonia Summit this November—a first-of-its-kind health and wellness summit with visionaries on the forefront of human well-being.¹ November 1—3, 2024 West Palm Beach, Florida Tickets available at eudemonia.net/2024 • ¹ Eudēmonia (Ancient Greek: εὐδαιμονία) is a word that, simply, translates to happiness and well-being. At Seed, we always say that health is a verb, a compounding of daily, micro actions that build the larger picture of health—there’s no one answer, magic pill, or elixir of life—but through curiosity and education we can make informed decisions about our lives.

Now Seed-ing Target stores nationwide. 🌱 Everyday we hear stories from humans who have experienced life-changing benefits from our products. Today, we expand our impact. The #1 probiotic in America—DS-01®—is now at Target, alongside our pediatric synbiotic, PDS-08®, and a brand new offering first-available at Target, DS-01® 14 Day Gut Reset.¹ A moment of gratitude to our kindred teams at Target and Seed for bringing this into the world. Explore: https://lnkd.in/eXVFXnXa • ¹ Our DS-01® 14 Day Gut Reset is a clinically validated two-week rapid protocol designed to quickly restore healthy gut function, strengthen the gut barrier, and replenish beneficial bacteria during times of occasional disruptions—from travel and stress to lack of sleep and more.

Last night, we drank tea and talked about the vaginal microbiome. In collaboration with our friend Erica Chidi (Co-Founder and CEO of LOOM), we communed with a group of superorganisms—doulas, clinicians, OB/GYNs, and more—to speak about the revolutionary field of the vaginal microbiome, our latest research, real life experiences of dysbiosis, and the clinical possibilities of VS-01™ (our first innovation for vaginal health). A big thank you to all who made this evening magical:  • Our Co-Founder and Co-CEO Ara Katz, Chief Medical Officer Zain Kassam MD, MPH, and Erica Chidi for leading an open and inspiring conversation  • Tea at Shiloh for sharing their space and providing a beautiful tea service • Camila Casanas for nourishing our microbiomes with a stunning spread  • Our team Mimi Nguyen and Kathryn LaBarbera for capturing the evening  • Our Director of Storytelling Travis Spier and Executive Creative Producer Kelley King for bringing everything to life If you, or someone in your ecosystem, is in the reproductive, gynecological, or urogenital space and would like information on our practitioner program or an invite to our next gathering, kindly email us—practitioners@seed.com 🌱  

Out today and on the cover of Nature Portfolio—the latest research on the ‘Second Space Age’ from Dr. Christopher Mason, co-authored by Seed co-Founder Raja Dhir. Dr. Mason, Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at Weill-Cornell Medicine and Seed Scientific Board Member, has worked on many mind-blowing, future-forward pieces of research on our species survival and continued exploration beyond Earth (including creating a 500-year plan for human survival with NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration). In three simultaneous papers in Nature, Dr. Mason details the new results from the Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA). The first, “A second space age spanning omics, platforms and medicine across orbits”—looks at the rapidly advancing landscape of spaceflight and the biological needs in order to push past ‘low Earth orbit’ for lunar and Martian missions known as the ‘Second Space Age’. This era has ushered in a new opportunity to leverage tools and methods for understanding human and microbial responses to spaceflight and to unlock how, from a cellular level, we can venture out towards other planets and moons. The journal also features two other papers led by Dr. Mason, “Molecular and physiological changes in the SpaceX Inspiration4 civilian crew,” and The Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) and international astronaut biobank.” Cover design by the team Seed Health in collaboration with artist and designer NIK Schulte and Manuel Carvahlo.

When we say “for your world within,” we mean it in every sense of the phrase—thinking in ecologies applies to every single thing we do. While we focus on creating innovations for the microbiome, we also apply this ecological mindset to our internal ecosystem of team members—our Seed-verse. Every August and December we take a collective week-long pause to rest and recharge. This time away from our screens offers fresh perspective, renewed energy, and improved well-being.  As a Recharge tradition, our team of designers, art directors, and brand storytellers create merch for the team to inspire time away from work. This year’s edition included a beach tote made in collaboration with our industrial design partner NUOVA Group, a Digestif hat, and some of our favorite sunscreen, courtesy of our friends at Freaks of Nature. Should you be viewing this post and thinking, “I’d love to join this team,” we’re hiring. seed.com/join-us 😉 • 📸: Photo taken by one of our stellar Project Managers, Emma Castiglione.