Salford graduate creates revolutionary kit to promote healthy eating

International student Piyush Bhanu received a MSc in Biotechnology from the university before creating the company Xome Life Sciences, which focuses on personalised healthcare and genomic research. Genomics is the branch of molecular biology concerned with genomes, which contain an organism's complete set of DNA.  

The testing kit will include a blood test with the results helping the individual to personalise their diet and let them know what foods they have an intolerance to. It is also being designed for anybody to buy and use. Piyush said: “The purpose of the kit is to allow any individual to know which food is unhealthy for them. The reason being that these food intolerances don't show up for a very long time and this leads to the development of chronic problems like diabetes, arthritis and obesity. The sooner we understand which foods are unhealthy for us, the better health we can have.”

After graduation, Piyush moved back to India and was successful in the bid to receive a grant of £10,000 or 10 Lakhs from the Indian Government to prototype and develop the kit. Users of the kit will be able to detect foods that they are intolerant to and eliminate these foods from the diet in order to achieve a healthier lifestyle and fitness goals. 

Piyush said: “Setting up the company is the easy part but keeping the company alive to achieve the purpose for which it was built is a real challenge! It certainly felt really good when I received the grant but there was a level of underlying fear as the real prototype was yet to be developed and tested.”

Piyush studied at the university from 2018 to 2019 and says his time at the university helped him on his journey to great success. He said: “I definitely learned a lot during my time at the university. We had courses on enterprising our biotech products and building something for the consumer which would be helpful to them. During the entire course, I learnt about many useful and fascinating topics and interacted with different people, which really opened-up my view of the world around me!” 

Currently, Piyush holds the provisional patent for the testing kits in India and is applying for the patent in the UK and other European countries. He said: “Currently, we are developing the prototype and soon we will be applying for patent in the UK and Germany. The next big market for us is there. The UK will certainly be our next stop once we raise to the next round, as I am quite aware of the English market.”