Precision fermentation is a technology that utilises microorganisms under controlled conditions to produce products identical to what we’re used to such as milk and eggs but with no animal involvement.
Microorganisms such as yeast, fungi or bacteria, are selected based on the type of molecule we want to produce (flavouring agents, vitamins, pigments, proteins, fats...)
The microorganisms are then cultivated in big fermentation tanks filled with a nutrient.
As the microorganisms feed they replicate fast and excrete the target molecule
When enough is produced, the target molecule is separated and purified from the rest of the medium.
The molecule can then be used to make milk, cheese, ice cream, protein powders, animal fats, and more.
We’ve been consuming fermentation products for millennia, think of beer, yoghurt, kimchi, bread and sauerkraut. Precision fermentation is nothing more than an extension of a safe and common technology which has already been used safely in our food systems for decades.
Examples:
Future Food Revolution
Annually we raise and slaughter around 100 billion land animals and between 2 and 3 trillion marine animals. This has a big impact on our planet and environment:
Precision fermentation produces the same products at a fraction of the impact and soon at a fraction of the cost:
Incumbent industries are almost always too slow to adapt to new technologies which leads to their downfall. This doesn"t have to be the case with our food system. Read more
In London, 2013, at a live packed press conference, Dutch scientist Mark Post unveiled the first lab-grown meat burger. The patty, prepared by a chef, was presented to food critics and an excited audience, all of whom were suitably impressed. Read more
It"s no secret that animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of climate change and environmental degradation. We can"t raise and slaughter 86 billion land animals and wrest 2–3 trillion marine animals out of the seas every year without suffering some consequences. Read more
