Biotech companies are trying to make milk without cows | MIT Technology Review

The Nugget

Biotech companies are working on creating milk without cows by engineering yeasts and plants with bovine genes to produce key milk proteins like casein and whey. This innovation could potentially revolutionize the dairy industry and reduce environmental impact.

Make it stick

🥛 Milk without cows: Biotech companies are using genetic engineering to make milk proteins in yeasts and plants.
🌱 Environmental benefits: Creating milk without cows could drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water usage in the dairy industry.

Biotech companies are using genetic engineering to replicate key milk proteins like casein and whey in yeasts and plants.
These companies aim to produce milk alternatives to reduce environmental impact and animal welfare concerns.
The process involves replacing traditional animal products with lab-grown ingredients and plant crops.

By developing milk without cows, companies like Remilk and Alpine Bio are looking to challenge the traditional dairy industry.
The use of genetic engineering to create milk proteins presents a more sustainable and ethical approach to dairy production.
The shift towards plant-based and lab-grown alternatives is driven by concerns over animal farming practices and environmental sustainability.

One of the main challenges for biotech companies developing milk alternatives is the need to keep production costs competitive with traditional dairy.
Despite the hurdles, the potential benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and animal welfare issues make the effort worthwhile.
Creating milk without cows could have far-reaching implications for the food industry, offering more sustainable and ethical choices for consumers.

"It’s not clear yet whether the bird flu outbreak on dairy farms is a big danger to humans. But making milk without cows would definitely cut the risk that an animal virus will cause a new pandemic." - Ori Cohavi, Remilk co-founder
"We raise 60 billion animals for food every year, and that is insane. We took it too far, and we need options. We need options that are better for the environment, that overcome the use of antibiotics, and that overcome the disease risk." - Magi Richani, Alpine CEO
"There are hundreds of millions of dairy cows on the planet producing greenhouse waste, using a lot of water and land. It can’t be the best way to produce food." - Ori Cohavi, Remilk co-founder
"For biotech ventures trying to displace milk, the big challenge will be keeping their own costs of production low enough to compete with cows." - MIT Technology Review
"But that’s why it might be time for the next technological step, says Richani. 'We raise 60 billion animals for food every year, and that is insane. We took it too far, and we need options.'" - MIT Technology Review

This summary contains AI-generated information and may have important inaccuracies or omissions.