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Chinese scientists have genetically modified a fungus to create protein-rich “meat”, which they say could be low-cost, environmentally friendly. chicken substitute,
Studies have shown that raising livestock In addition to requiring large tracts of land and large amounts of fresh water, it is responsible for about 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Whereas laboratory-grown proteins from yeast and fungi have emerged as Possible meat substitutesProcessing them into consumer-friendly products has been a challenge.
Among the existing options, proteins from fungi fusarium poisoning It stands out because of its natural texture and taste, which is very similar to chicken meat.
Scientists say that although this fungal “meat” has been approved for food use in many countries like the US, UK and China, even small quantities of it require huge resources.
by editing fusarium poisoning genome, without introducing any foreign DNA, Chinese scientists have improved its protein production capacity and digestibility.
They detail their findings in a new study published in Trends in Biotechnology.
“There is popular demand for better and more sustainable proteins for food,” said study author Xiao Liu of Jiangnan University. “We successfully made a fungus not only more nutritious but also more environmentally friendly by modifying its genes.”
Scientists simply removed the gene from the fungal DNA attached to two of its enzymes.
One of the changes made the fungal cell wall thinner and allowed more proteins to be packed inside its cell.
The second helped fine-tune the fungal metabolism so that it required less nutrient input to produce proteins.
“Such gene-edited foods could meet growing food demands without the environmental costs of traditional farming,” Dr Liu said.
The new study says the modified fungal strain, called FCPD, requires 44 percent less sugar to make the same proteins as the original strain and does so 88 percent faster.
The researchers then simulated FCPD production in six countries with different energy structures and found that, compared to chicken production in China, FCPD myoprotein requires 70 percent less land and reduces the risk of freshwater pollution by 78 percent.
“It can be concluded that efficient mycoprotein synthesis provides environmental advantages over animal proteins and cultured meat,” the researchers said.
Modification of fungi involves the use of CRISPR, a biotechnology tool to selectively modify the DNA of a living organism.
“With more thorough safety validation, taking into account appropriate policy factors, our strategy has the potential to be extended to other alternative protein production models to promote the development of CRISPR technology in cell agriculture and the alternative protein industry,” the researchers said.