A Middleton biotech company has been awarded a $500,000 federal innovation grant to develop tools for improving the health of farm-raised fish.
Lucigen Corp., in partnership with Auburn University, is trying to come up with inexpensive ways to detect and control Edwardsiella ictaluri, the most common pathogen in farmed catfish. Farmers suffer substantial economic losses when fish are infected with this pathogen, the company said.
"Aquaculture is an increasingly important food source and a vital industry in the U.S. and worldwide," David Mead, Lucigen's founder and chief executive, said in a statement. "We think the technology we are developing with our collaborators at Auburn has potential to make a significant impact."
The Small Business Innovation Research grant was awarded by the National Science Foundation and is to be used over the next two years.
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