Well, first off, this is not Chris' discovery as
chitinase microbes were known before he was born, and the cultivation methods of such have been used by several practitioners, again, preceding him, but steve and chris are popularizing the idea, which is great.
I went on a trip to Korea to specifically
study GCM (gelatinase and chitinase microbes) in 2019. This was a specifically isolated and cultivated set of microbes that were hugely effective at mitigating bug and pathogen pressure, but also have their own set of drawbacks to use.
Making custom IMO is not a new idea, and what you add to the rice, such as insect frass, shrimp shell, or other materials in small quantities will affect the colonies you culture and collect. One can push the collection more fungal or more bacterial by using materials other than rice, but you will find at the end of the experimentation cycle that true peace comes from balance, and that the way these recipes were given to us is closer to that than most alterations you can come up with.
Keep this in mind and be wary of the ego claiming any invention or innovation, and the folks that promulgate such behavior, including one's own self.
