MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, US — Cargill will use Eagle Genomics’ e[datascientist] platform to digitally transform microbiome and life sciences research and development across Cargill’s global locations under a multi-year agreement between the companies announced May 20. Initially, Cargill’s Health Technologies business will use the platform to organize and synthesize additional insights from microbiome data that Minneapolis-based Cargill has amassed over the past decade.

“By revealing relationships between microbiome data entities and relevant multi-omics data, the platform will further enable Cargill to advance our understanding of the complex association between the microbiome and digestive and immune health in humans and animals,” said Mike Johnson, marketing director of Cargill Health Technologies. “Healthy animals, healthy people and a healthy planet are all interconnected. With the advanced knowledge and insights we anticipate generating from our microbiome data, the e[datascientist] will allow us to effectively build on our existing suite of health solutions and bring more relevant products to market in this exciting area of functional food.”

The platform is capable of managing, exploring and interpreting life sciences data beyond the microbiome, which ultimately will allow Cargill to bring new products to customers faster, according to Cargill.

Eagle Genomics, Cambridge, United Kingdom, seeks to accelerate advances in sustainable agriculture and functional food. The e[datascientist] platform applies artificial intelligence (AI). Eagle Genomics defines the microbiome as the populations of bacteria, viruses and fungi that coexist in human bodies and in the environment.