Human Practices Silver

Kombucha is a fermented beverage consumed around the world for its supposed health benefits. The drink originated in East Asia in 220 BCE and spread to places such as Japan, Europe, and Africa.1 In recent years, it has gained popularity and today can be found globally. Though commonly home brewed, kombucha is also manufactured on a commercial scale. This wide audience of consumers means that research focused on better understanding kombucha and its microbiome can have a huge impact.

Kombucha’s purported health benefits are some of the main factors contributing to this rapid rise in popularity. There are a multitude claims that kombucha can prevent types of cancer and other diseases, improve liver function, and help the immune system.1 These supposed health benefits are not well supported despite increasing scientific interest in kombucha. Many of these studies have used nonhuman subjects, leading to questions regarding relevance of their findings to human health. Research has, however, demonstrated kombucha’s antimicrobial properties against different strains of bacteria due to the presence of the organic acids1.

Regardless of the validity of the health claims surrounding kombucha, the microbiome that ferments the beverage provides a rich framework for modification with synthetic biology to create a designer beverage. By either adding different strains of bacteria or altering the genes present in the strains of bacteria, a variety of improvement may be possible. Possibilities our team has considered include lowering the amount of ethanol produced in the fermentation, improving flavor with biosynthesized brazzein, or visualizing the pH changes in the beverage with pH-sensitive promoter-reporter constructs.

Despite little concern among the scientific community regarding the safety of genetically modified foods, many kombucha consumers in the health and wellness community remain apprehensive of genetic modification. Though widespread public acceptance of genetically modified organisms is unlikely in the near future, modifying the kombucha microbiome with naturally occurring strains of bacteria could still allow some degree of customization without alienating potential consumers. Because of increasing public interest in kombucha, further research on the drink may someday provide a platform for a discussion of the benefits of synthetic biology with those who remain skeptical of the safety of genetically modified foods.

References

1. Jayabalan, R., Malbaša, R. V., Lončar, E. S., Vitas, J. S. and Sathishkumar, M. (2014), A Review on Kombucha Tea—Microbiology, Composition, Fermentation, Beneficial Effects, Toxicity, and Tea Fungus. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 13: 538–550. doi:10.1111/1541-4337.12073