Sustainable Protein Research

Two ominous global trends are set to change what people will eat in the future: 1. Global demand for animal-based food is growing faster than the growth rate of the world’s population, so that it will be ever more difficult to ensure nutritional security solely by relying on traditional food sources. 2. The animal agri-food industry is increasingly harming the Earth’s environmental ecosystem because it is a major user of the dwindling global sources of arable land and fresh water. Moreover, the industry generates exceptionally high levels of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions; and, as the consumer of 70% of all antibiotics produced, it is the major generator of lethal antibiotic-resistant pathogens. For the sake of our planet and to sustainably feed future generations, urgent steps must be taken on a global scale to replace animal-based protein-rich food with viable environmentally friendly alternatives. As a result, developing sustainable protein products that are tasty and inexpensive has become a top priority for governments, researchers, and entrepreneurs worldwide. Substantial resources are being invested in advancing research in this field, resulting in significant breakthroughs. However, there is still a long way to go before satisfactory alternative protein products will be widely available and integrated into human diets around the world. Research efforts focus on four main categories of sustainable protein (SP) technologies:

Plant/algae/single-cell-based alternative protein

Plants, algae, fungi, and single-cell organisms like bacteria, microalgae and yeast are a major potential source of alternative protein. This is the most well established category, but it still offers exciting new opportunities. Quite a few research projects with this aim are already being conducted at the Technion.

Tissue culture-based SP technologies

Animal cells and tissues are grown in a specially developed medium, ideally without any animal-based ingredients. Technion researchers have made significant breakthroughs in the quest to develop satisfying sustainable/alternative protein solutions using tissue culture technologies, especially for beef muscle tissue. In addition to beef products, researchers are developing other animal tissue culture-based food, such as chicken, lamb, seafood, eggs, milk, etc.

Fermentation-based alternative protein

Innovative technologies for expressing, producing and isolating food proteins and other compounds needed for the production of SP products, using microorganisms as factories. Technologies are being developed for growing microorganisms in scalable fermenters and extracting naturally occurring proteins, or genetically engineered ones (“precision fermentation”), or other compounds. Recombinant-DNA based proteins and other compounds can be developed using CRISPR gene editing to produce animal proteins, such as milk proteins, egg proteins and more, within microorganisms such as yeast.

Insect-based alternative protein

This category offers a sustainable, nutritious solution to meet rising global food demands. Packed with essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals, insects such as crickets and mealworms have a low environmental footprint, and require minimal land, water, and feed. As interest in eco-friendly diets grows, insect protein emerges as a promising option for human consumption.

Additionally, some researchers are seeking to traverse the interface between these categories. For example: by producing steaks based on 3D printing using plant based scaffolds, or electrospinning of scaffolds from plant materials with embedded cells; incorporating, health-promoting ingredients, flavors and colors from plants or microorganisms into tissue-culture-based products; growing cell cultures using growth factors obtained through fermentation to replace the current animal-component based tissue culture media; reformulating animal based products using fermentation derived proteins or tissue culture, while improving health promoting composition of animal based products, by replacing undesired components (like cholesterol) with nutritionally better plant-based substitutes; and adding fermentation-based flavor materials into plant-based products. These are just some of the exciting solutions that may help ensure that, in the future, our planet’s population will be able to feed itself in a nutritious, affordable and sustainable manner without further harming animals and the environment.