Geert-Jan Boons will start Technology Area project

Researcher Geert-Jan Boons received funding for a so called Technology Area project: a collaboration between several knowledge institutions and companies. Three Technology Area projects are scheduled to start in 2020.

A consortium led by Geert-Jan Boons will link allergenic proteins to complex sugars to open new avenues for preventing and treating food allergies.

In total three projects have been approved – the two other projects are led by Delft University of Technology and Wageningen University. These three projects have been approved within the Science PPP (public-private partnership) fund. Technology Area is designed to stimulate public-private partnership between at least two companies and two knowledge institutions. A total of approximately 3 million euro has been made available for these collaborative ventures between the worlds of research and business.

We will link allergenic proteins from cow’s milk and peanuts to complex sugars, to assess their tolerance-inducing capacity

Preventing and treating food allergies with immunomodulatory carbohydrates
Geert-Jan Boons is lead applicant. He will lead a consortium of Utrecht University, University Medical Center Utrecht, Danone Nutricia Research, EnzyTag B.V.

Food allergy is a serious health problem that affects about 4-8 percent of children and 3-4 percent of adults. As yet, there is no preventative or therapeutic treatment for this problem. Anyone affected by this is advised to avoid the protein that triggers their allergy. However, they do need to be exposed to that protein in order to develop oral tolerance – the point at which they no longer develop an adverse immune response to that substance. Researchers working on this project will link allergenic proteins from cow’s milk and peanuts to complex sugars, to assess their tolerance-inducing capacity. This will open up various avenues for preventing and treating food allergies.