Vitamin B12 is an essential water-soluble vitamin needed by our bodies for various bodily processes. Most commonly associated with energy production, Vitamin B12 also supports mental wellness and cardiovascular wellbeing.

Vitamin B12 is produced through fermentation using bacteria (1-10 days in massive vats >100,000L), with up to two weeks needed to purify it after that step. Martin’s team has developed binding proteins which could speed this up.

1. Supports Energy Metabolism

Vitamin B12, along with its B complex counterparts, plays an essential role in turning food into fuel that the body can use. In addition, it forms red blood cells and promotes nervous system health – all essential factors in metabolic rate enhancement.

Water-soluble vitamin B12 can be found naturally in foods, added to others and taken as dietary supplements. Containing cobalt mineral, it comes in various forms collectively known as ‘cobalamins”. Methylcobalamin and 5-deoxyadenosylcobalamin are two biologically active cobalamins; its coenzyme form, Adenosylcobalamin works directly in mitochondria – cell powerhouses that convert carbohydrates to energy. Myelin sheaths support myelin sheath function while increasing energy levels and speedy cell responses quickly to stimuli.

Methionine is converted to S-adenosylmethionine, which serves as a methyl donor and plays an essential role in many processes in the body – including DNA synthesis. High homocysteine levels have been linked with cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke, dementia and cognitive decline risk.

Commercially, vitamin B12 is produced using bacterial fermentation; however, this process has several drawbacks such as long fermentation cycles; high media requirements; and needing genetic engineering systems to engineer strains.

Martin’s team has developed E. coli to more efficiently produce vitamin B12. Their new strain produces higher yields of the essential nutrient and can be purified within two weeks, significantly cutting production costs and production risks. Furthermore, binding proteins were developed that can speed up purification while also decreasing contamination risks, providing people with access to essential nutrition. Martin and his team hope their efforts will contribute towards providing people with access to this essential supplement.

2. Supports Detoxification

B vitamins play an essential part in detoxification via the process known as methylation. With our increasingly toxic world, this process is vital for good health and longevity; B12 assists the body to methylate substances so they can then be excreted from your system.

Researchers had long struggled to comprehend how living organisms create vitamin B12. Its production is one of the most chemically complex processes ever; activation of 30 different genes within bacteria must occur sequentially for complete biosynthesis to take place. Production using chemicals has proved ineffective and expensive while being environmentally unsustainable; as a result most people consume vitamin B12 via animal products or fortified food items; animals who don’t eat other animals obtain their supply from bacteria in their gut or from soil-infected dirt on plant foods.

Scientists have developed an unconventional new way of producing B12 using laundry whitener and bacteria from dirt. Researchers discovered a mutation in these bacteria which produces this essential vitamin – specifically in its gene bluB, which codes for an enzyme which promotes cobalamin production. Researchers believe the gene’s presence allows bacteria to form stable cobalamin-containing molecules called cyanocobalamin which can then be released into the environment.

Cyanocobalamin, the most prevalent form of Vitamin B12, can be found in meat, fish, dairy products and some fortified products. Your body must convert this form to adenosylcobalamin before mitochondria can use it to generate energy; Adenosylcobalamin is preferred form because it cannot be damaged by heat or sunlight oxidisation.

Researchers hope that their discovery will result in an efficient and cost-effective method for producing vitamin B12 for use in human food products. Vitamin B12 is vital in red blood cell formation, nerve function and energy production as well as maintaining a healthy digestive tract and supporting an efficient immune system.

3. Supports Cognitive Function

Vitamin B12 is an essential nutrient to ensure proper brain and nervous system function, with deficiencies leading to symptoms like brain fog, fatigue and memory loss. Furthermore, S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), an essential cofactor in epigenetic reactions is formed from this vitamin. Supplementation has shown promising results for helping prevent brain atrophy and slow cognitive decline for people who already suffer from deficiency; further research will need to be completed as to its impact on people without deficiencies.

Scientists from Quadram Institute and international collaborators have worked to produce a recombinant E. coli strain which produces high levels of B12 while simultaneously taking steps to incorporate critical metal cobalt into its composition, making industrial production of the vitamin more sustainable and profitable.

Prof Warren and Dr Tessa Young of Durham University worked collaboratively with colleagues from other institutions to advance biosynthesis of B12 by better understanding how enzymes obtain essential metals for their functions. This led them to create a “metalation calculator”, which will optimise use of cobalt in bacterial manufacturing process and potentially provide more sustainable methods of production in future.

Hydroxocobalamin, the active form of vitamin B12, plays an essential role in DNA synthesis, the Krebs cycle and energy production in cells. Furthermore, it’s required for converting homocysteine to methionine and maintaining normal concentrations of this amino acid in bloodstream. Studies have also revealed that hydroxocobalamin may suppress LRRK2 kinase activity both cultured cells and human brain tissue.

4. Supports Bone Health

Age can cause levels of vitamin B12 to decline in the body, and its deficiency has been linked with reduced bone health. This link can be largely explained by how vitamin B12 is essential in producing red blood cells which transport oxygen throughout your system; when they don’t produce properly then that means your organs don’t receive sufficient amounts of oxygen and you are at greater risk for poor health overall.

People low in vitamin B12 can take supplements or consume foods containing this nutrient to avoid osteoporosis-induced fractures and thus protect themselves from its adverse consequences. This is especially crucial for postmenopausal women and elderly individuals; osteoporosis fractures account for many fractures among these groups that could have serious repercussions.

Vitamin B12 can help lower homocysteine levels that damage bones. Furthermore, it supports bone density by increasing production of collagen within bones – strengthening them. Yet its precise role must still be better understood in bone health.

Studies have demonstrated that Vitamin B12 and other B vitamins can provide protection from osteoporotic fractures in humans, according to multiple cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. More specifically, higher intakes of folate and B12 were linked with decreased homocysteine levels as well as enhanced bone mineral density (BMD) and reduced fracture risk.

Quadram Institute scientists led by Professor Martin Warren have developed an environmentally sustainable method of producing vitamin B12 which uses cobalt- and metal-free catalysts that promote its production in bacteria cells, making the approach much simpler to produce large quantities. They hope that this technology can be employed to combat the global shortage caused by inadequate food intake or inadequate supplementation strategies.

5. Supports Heart Health

B vitamins are necessary for turning food into energy, helping regulate mood and cognitive function, supporting blood cell formation and improving cardiovascular health.

B12 is naturally produced by bacteria living in the digestive systems of ruminant animals like cows, sheep and goats. Humans can obtain it from animal products, fortified foods and dietary supplements; its absorption happens through binding to an intrinsic factor protein in the small intestine; those with reduced stomach acid or conditions that interfere with intrinsic factor can become deficient – this includes vegans who do not consume meat or dairy, those living with celiac disease/Crohn’s and people undergoing intestinal surgeries among others.

Scientists have spent decades trying to unravel how living organisms produce B12, and while many steps of biosynthesis have been identified, enough of this molecule had never been produced for commercial production until now.

Researchers from Durham University recently made an amazing discovery: an enzyme capable of managing the distribution of vital metals during production processes can control their distribution more efficiently, thus decreasing cobalt requirements needed to produce vitamin B12. They developed an online calculator industrial biotechnologists could use to optimize production of this essential nutrient.

B12 Brilliance, our natural form of vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin), combined with magnesium and other B-complex nutrients to create an exceptional formula that supports heart health. Vitamin B12 reduces homocysteine levels in your body to help lower risk of cardiovascular disease by preventing buildup of fatty deposits on arteries; also B complex vitamins help clear away excess free radicals that cause oxidative damage and inflammation within blood vessels.