Jan 3, 2024 11:34 PM
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/moolecs-...te-meatier
EXCERPTS: .. . Paladini’s imagination ran wild with thoughts of a soybean that dripped blood: a chimera that packed all the flavor of pig meat into a seedling.
Today, Paladini is the CEO of Moolec Science, a molecular farming firm that uses crops to grow animal proteins. The idea is to turn plants into tiny, field-based factories that can produce high-value proteins and other molecules that might be used to supplement existing products, or provide a meaty heft to plant-based food.
[...] In June 2023, Moolec revealed that it had inserted genes from pigs into soy plants in order to make soybeans that expressed porcine proteins. [...] In some of the soybeans, over a quarter of the soluble proteins were identified as pig. ... The beans have a pinky hue and a meaty taste, he says, though the company is still awaiting a full analysis of their nutritional qualities....
[...] In the US, sales of plant-based products are flat-lining amid signs that consumers are underwhelmed by these animal-free offerings. As confidence wavers, more startups are hoping to create the killer ingredient that can help plant-based sausages and burgers rival their fleshy counterparts...
“I personally believe that the plant-based industry has slowed down because the cost, taste, and flavor are good—but not good enough,” says Paladini...
[...] Improving plant-based meat isn’t the only area that Paladini has his eye on. In fact, [...] It’s an uncomfortable truth that many meat products contain a surprisingly small fraction of real meat. In the UK, for example, sausages only need to contain 42 percent pork to qualify for the label “pork sausages.” The rest is flavorings and filler—which often includes protein from soybean.
Mixing in a meatier soybean could improve these products while keeping their costs down, says Paladini [...] Moolec ... is also working on pea plants that contain beef proteins and safflowers modified to produce one of the main enzymes that helps milk coagulate into solid cheese.... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: .. . Paladini’s imagination ran wild with thoughts of a soybean that dripped blood: a chimera that packed all the flavor of pig meat into a seedling.
Today, Paladini is the CEO of Moolec Science, a molecular farming firm that uses crops to grow animal proteins. The idea is to turn plants into tiny, field-based factories that can produce high-value proteins and other molecules that might be used to supplement existing products, or provide a meaty heft to plant-based food.
[...] In June 2023, Moolec revealed that it had inserted genes from pigs into soy plants in order to make soybeans that expressed porcine proteins. [...] In some of the soybeans, over a quarter of the soluble proteins were identified as pig. ... The beans have a pinky hue and a meaty taste, he says, though the company is still awaiting a full analysis of their nutritional qualities....
[...] In the US, sales of plant-based products are flat-lining amid signs that consumers are underwhelmed by these animal-free offerings. As confidence wavers, more startups are hoping to create the killer ingredient that can help plant-based sausages and burgers rival their fleshy counterparts...
“I personally believe that the plant-based industry has slowed down because the cost, taste, and flavor are good—but not good enough,” says Paladini...
[...] Improving plant-based meat isn’t the only area that Paladini has his eye on. In fact, [...] It’s an uncomfortable truth that many meat products contain a surprisingly small fraction of real meat. In the UK, for example, sausages only need to contain 42 percent pork to qualify for the label “pork sausages.” The rest is flavorings and filler—which often includes protein from soybean.
Mixing in a meatier soybean could improve these products while keeping their costs down, says Paladini [...] Moolec ... is also working on pea plants that contain beef proteins and safflowers modified to produce one of the main enzymes that helps milk coagulate into solid cheese.... (MORE - missing details)