Animal Proteins from Microbes: Food Revolution with Solaris Biotech
Microbial engineering holds significant promise for recreating animal products like dairy and eggs through precision fermentation, where specific pathways of individual components are engineered into microorganisms.
Dairy Products
Milk consists of various components, including oligosaccharides, fats, sugars, and proteins, primarily casein and whey. Synthetic biology is being used to reproduce these components in microorganisms. The main proteins in milk, casein, and whey, have been successfully engineered into various organisms, including bacteria and yeast. Start-ups like Perfect Day, Better Dairy, and Formo are at the forefront, producing animal-free milk by extracting purified milk proteins from microbial cell factories and combining them with other milk components.
Research has also focused on the production of oligosaccharides present in human breast milk, given its crucial role in developing the neonatal gut flora and immune system.
Precision fermentation has been used to develop components such as human milk fats and human milk oligosaccharides (HMO), both in academia and industry, with companies like Novonesis and DSM producing HMO from engineered microbes at industrial scale.
HMO have been produced in organisms like Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Bacillus subtilis, human milk fats production has been developed in various microorganisms such as Yarrowia lipolytica, Rhodococcus sp., and even in microalgae. Additionally, the probiotic effects of HMO can be mimicked by adding beneficial gut microbes to the formula, though further studies in humans are needed to confirm the benefits of these supplements.
Egg Products
Eggs are composed of a complex group of proteins responsible for their unique texture and taste. Efforts have been made to recombinantly express various egg proteins, initially for allergenicity and protein studies and more recently as food ingredients. Start-ups like EVERY have made significant strides, launching an egg white product made from recombinantly produced proteins in 2021.
Other Animal-Based Ingredients
One notable success in the field of precision fermentation is the replacement of rennet, an enzyme mixture containing chymosin found in the stomach lining of young ruminants. Commercial chymosin is now predominantly produced from Aspergillus Niger, making many types of cheese suitable for vegetarians, and reducing costs, which benefits cheese makers.
Overall, precision fermentation and microbial engineering are transforming the production of animal products, providing sustainable and ethical alternatives to traditional methods.
