Probiotic Problem Solving – Zack Abbott, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO of ZBiotics – Engineering Probiotic Solutions for Health Problems and Health Protections
Finding Genius Podcast
Richard Jacobs
4.4 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 6 November 2019
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Zack Abbott, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO of ZBiotics (zbiotics.com), discusses his company's mission, acetaldehyde toxicity, and the future of probiotics for health protection.
Abbott is the creative scientific mind behind the proprietary technology and foundation for ZBiotics. Abbott holds a PhD in microbiology & immunology from the University of Michigan, where he worked on bacterial gene regulation. He earned his bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley, in immunology as well as classical art and archaeology. In his earlier years, Abbott was a researcher, studying HIV vaccines and pursuing novel antibiotics.
Abbott's company has developed ZBiotics™—the planet's first genetically engineered/modified probiotics designed to break down a toxic byproduct of alcohol known as acetaldehyde. He explains how the product works to combat the negative effects of alcohol, discussing the live bacteria aspects and the way they have engineered it to fight those negative effects. As he explains, by mimicking what our livers do to metabolize alcohol, ZBiotics takes its inspiration from nature.
Instead of manufacturing the enzyme separately, ZBiotics has engineered some probiotic bacteria to produce this enzyme anew, inside your gut, thereby transferring the trait for acetaldehyde breakdown out of the liver to probiotic bacteria. Abbott talks about the future of ZBiotics, as they look to build new products that can help our bodies handle many potentially problematic issues, from everyday chemicals in alcohol and dairy, to severe contaminants and problems, such as radiation and lead in water health effects.
Transcript
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| 1:08.4 | podcast. I have Zach Abbott. He's the founder and CEO of a company called Z biotics. The website is also Z biotics. The letter Z B IO, T I C S. So, Zach, thanks for coming. How you doing? |
| 1:20.3 | Excellent. Thank you, Richard, for having me. Excited to chat with you about this. |
| 1:24.0 | Okay, tell me what's the premise of z-biotics? |
| 1:26.4 | In essence, z-biotics is a probiotic that we have genetically engineered to |
| 1:32.1 | express an enzyme similar to one your liver uses to help deal |
| 1:36.7 | with some of the toxic byproducts of alcohol that make you feel terrible the day after drinking. |
| 1:42.4 | So the idea is you drink our engineer probiotic |
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