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Attached are the research emphases and application guidelines. There are a total of 6 million euros in the pot. Read more to learn more about the main research emphases.

Research focus:

• DETECTION OF TRACES OF ALLERGENS IN FOOD
• BIOACTIVE INGREDIENTS: Safety of bioactive ingredients in functional foods
• CHEMICAL FOOD CONTAMINANTS
• EMERGING RISK: Effects [Consequences] of climate change on [for] feed and food safety
• GMO: Development of screening methods of GMOs
• MRSA: The zoonotic potential of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) - antibiotic resistance and non-typable (NT) strains
• RISK-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
• RISK ASSESSMENT OF FOOD-BORNE PATHOGENS
• TRACEABILITY

TIME SCHEDULE

20th of June 2008: SAFEFOODERA 2nd Call officially announced

15th of September 2008: Deadline for proposal submission (17:00 Brussels time)

1st of March 2009: Latest date for project start

Instructions for prospective candidates can be found here 

At Matís, work is beginning on a project entitled: "New production process for the production of Lútfiskur". The project is funded by the AVS Fisheries Research Fund and will be carried out by Fram Foods, which has a large market share in lye fish in the Nordic countries.

Lute fish is a very special product based on centuries-old methods and we used to preserve raw materials. The raw material is dried down to about 15-16% moisture and there is about 80% utilization loss during drying. The dried raw material is stored until the autumn until processing takes place, which is from the end of September until mid-December. In a conventional processing process, the fillets are soaked, then bent and rinsed, which causes the weight of the fillets to multiply. During bending, the acidity of the product rises a lot and they can therefore absorb a lot of water, which is the explanation for the expansion of the fish during bending. Finally, the fillets are cut into pieces and packed in 1 kg vacuum units. 
 
Some believe that lye fish dates back to the Viking Age, while others believe that lye fish first appeared in the 16th century in the Netherlands and soon found its way to the Nordic countries, where consumption is highest today. The total Nordic market for lye fish is estimated at 5,200 tonnes. Of this, 2,200 tonnes of cod are in Norway, 2,500 tonnes of ling in Sweden and 500 tonnes of ling in Finland. Consumption is traditional and almost exclusively for Christmas, but something is eaten from lye fish at Easter. When consumed, the fish pieces are boiled and served with boiled potatoes, peppers and green beans, not unlike ham. As such, the fish has a very special texture that resembles boiled egg whites and is tasteless after the effect and there is something about flavors such as mustard or bacon being added to the sauce, or as a side dish
 
The idea behind the research project is to seek more flexibility in production by shortening the production time, so that the supermarkets can be offered a fresher product by shortening the processing time.

The project manager is Hörður G. Kristinsson, department manager at Matís.

Matís – Prokaria recently acquired a Roche / 454 Life Science sequencer. According to Ragnar Jóhannsson, director of Matís' Biotechnology Division, the device can sequence large amounts of genetic material at once and opens up a new dimension in the search for interesting genes for new enzymes that can be used in the pharmaceutical, food and energy industries. This gene is found in microorganisms that live in hot springs at temperatures of up to 100 degrees and at very different salinity and acidity levels, says Ragnar.

Previously, the so-called Gen-Mining method was used, but the new machine reduces the cost of searching for genes almost 20-fold. But the big plus is that all of the organism's genes that code for all of its hundreds of enzymes are obtained in one go. To put capacity in context, the machine sequences 1,000,000,000 base pairs overnight - the existing machine detects 100,000 base pairs at the same time. This is a 10,000-fold difference in capacity. The new device was purchased in collaboration with the Center for Systems Biology at the University of Iceland and the University of Iceland Experimental Station at Keldur

As mentioned earlier, the device is a FLX type from Roche / 454 Life Science and will be used for various researches and will be used, for example, in research in systems biology, which is about analyzing the overall picture of organisms' activities, ie the interaction of metabolism and gene expression. It is necessary to design production organisms that can carry out complex chemical preparations.

The device will also be used in research on higher animals such as the cod genome, in the search for genetic markers and key genes that control important traits such as growth rate and disease resistance.

The device will also be used in gene expression research, which is important in various health and health research studies, such as cancer research and research into inflammatory diseases. It refers to diseases such as rheumatism, cardiovascular disease.

A major advantage of this device over other comparable devices is that it is possible to sequence the genome of unknown bacteria and even a mixture of genomes, which is important in environmental research. In a new article in Nature, there is an interview with well-known scientists in the field where they state that this is the only device in the world today that can do this.

The picture above shows Ragnar (left) and Ólafur H. Friðjónsson by the new sequencer.

A new CFO started working at Matís at the end of last month, Sigríður Hrönn Theódórsdóttir, and she took over the job from Aðalbjörg Halldórsdóttir. Sigríður is a business economist from Fachhochschule Munchen, and has extensive experience in the business world.

As stated earlier, Sigríður has extensive experience in the business world and it can be mentioned that she worked for Nýsir hf. as managing director of Artes, Café Konditori Copenhagen and also as operations manager of Heilsugæslan in Salahverfi. Previously, she worked as a project manager at Brú Venture Capital and at Nýsköpunarsjóður atvinnulífsins.

Sigríður has traveled widely and spent long periods abroad, she lived in Munich for 13 years, where she studied and worked, where she worked for the large companies Allianz and Siemens Nixdorf.

She has also traveled to many exotic destinations such as Brazil, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, the Philippines, Thailand, Egypt to name a few.

On Thursday 12 June, there will be a conference on behalf of the University of Akureyri on future challenges in the fisheries sector.

The conference will discuss the future of the fisheries sector from various angles. Domestic and foreign scholars and employers, many of whom are considered to be at the forefront of their field, will discuss a wide range of topics related to the fisheries sector. For example, about the future prospects of cod stocks in the world, investment opportunities in the international fisheries sector and what can be learned from what is well done in fisheries management.

More information can be found on the website http://fisheries.unak.is You can also register for the conference on that website. Please contact Lára Guðmundsdóttir (tel. 460-8900, laragudmunds@unak.is for further information on registration and Hreiðar Þór Valtýsson (862-4493, hreidar@unak.is regarding general information.

The picture shows Borgir, the University of Akureyri's laboratory, where Matís has facilities. Workshops will be held in Borgir, but the conference itself will take place at Hotel KEA.