Roadmap towards greener milk protein production via precision fermentation

Description

Currently, the food production system is the largest individual contributor to climate and ecosystem problems, responsible for almost 30% of anthropogenic GHG emissions. Remarkably, even though animal husbandry only provides 37% of our dietary protein and 18% of our calories, it uses about 83% of the world’s farmland. Precision fermentation has the potential to mimic animal-origin products like milk while reducing their environmental footprint. In the last decade, the number of companies focused on precision fermentation of dairy products has increased substantially. These companies claim to have developed more environmentally sustainable processes; however, an independent study demonstrated that the impact of recombinant milk protein lies within the same range as that of traditional milk. This discrepancy between industry and academia highlights the need for a deeper and independent environmental assessment of the use of precision fermentation for producing milk proteins. This study aims to independently assess the environmental impact of recombinant milk protein, compare it to cow and plant-based milk, and identify the bottlenecks of the recombinant process that hinder the impact reduction.

Period	28 May 2024
Event title	DTU Microbes Conference 2024
Event type	Conference
Location	Kgs. Lyngby, DenmarkShow on map