The Blog of Dato' Dr Anuar

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I am a regular fan of beef peperoni pizza, made by a  well-known franchisor.
 As everyone knows, pizza contains one critical ingredient, namely cheese. As pizza is a world favourite food, It is noted that the global worth of the cheese industry is world’s US$150 billion a year. In every pan of pizza, there are about 17 to 26 grams of cheese.  Some pizzas have a  weighty amount of cheese to delight eaters. According to Rocco’s Random Pizza Facts, each man, woman and child in America eats on average 652 grams of pizza per year. America has a population of more than 340 million.

Presently, most of the cheese used in pizza is derived from milk of cows.

If cows are considered a technology that created milk, they would be 3 per cent effective in converting nutrients. As a former chemical engineer, that is really inefficient technology and nowhere in the world would that technology be accepted. Typically, milk is not complex—it is just water, proteins and other nutrients. We should be able to make this in a laboratory using fermentation process.

Instead of using a 200lb cow  to produce dairy proteins, we can use GM yeast (genetically modified yeast) to produce the exact same proteins that are necessary for the production of dairy in laboratories.

One we have the proteins, we mix it with water and nutrients, viola we have milk, which can produce numerous dairy products, such as cheeses.  

Let us understand the process of milk from cows. If this process is considered a “technology”, then normal cow milk is produced by impregnating cows. Once the youngling is born. It gets taken way from the mother. The mother will be attached to a milking machine, starting the process of milking over a span that lasts to roughly a year. The milk the cows produce is not effective in converting nutrients they eat (mainly grasses and insects), with a  conversion rate of 3 per cent. Then, the cow gets impregnated again, thus, repeating the same process. It is estimated that there are more than 270 million cows  that are producing milk in the world. The popularity of pizzas and other  dairy products would require more cows and lands to breed them!

Need to have alternatives to produce cheese without cow milk

Genetically modifying yeast can make dairy protein fermentation, easy and simpler method. Bioengineers have been trying to make it the best, most sustainable type of yeast that can create the milk protein, in order to produce the milk products at the faster conversion rate possible. Two main proteins that cows produce that are vital to dairy are casein and whey.

If we can make dairy tastes good (and is the same as traditional dairy), at a  comparable price point, no one has to compromise. We would have the dairy we love, at the same availability and convenience as before, just as a much  better use of resources, which are finite.

Genetically modifying yeast-the process

The goal of genetically modifying yeast is to alter its DNA so that it has the same protein-producing genes that cows have—so they can produce the same proteins cows do.

We introduce the protein-producing genes to the yeast cells in the form of DNA. Essentially, we are giving the yeast cells an instruction manual on how to make milk proteins by genetically modifying them to include cow DNA. After we introduce the DNA, we want to cell to replicate the new gene sequence many times so that if one is destroyed, we have more copies (cloning the cells).

The genetic engineering process is done through the plasmid of a yeast cell. The plasmid is a circle of genetic material that replicates indefinitely. The role of the plasmid is to transfer genetic information to other parts of the cell. Plasmids exist in addition to the cell’s main DNA (chromosomes). When they are extracted, the yeast cell is still  able to function because it has its chromosomes.

In the process of genetic engineering, the plasmid is extracted, and gene edited. A section of the DNA inside the plasmid is cut  out, then the DNA sequence that cows use to produce milk proteins is inserted in the cell. The plasmid is then introduced to yeast. It transfers the new genetic information to the chromosomes of the yeast cells. The yeast cells then begin dividing and producing the casein and whey proteins.

In the case of genetically engineered yeast, yeast is the host cell, and the plasmids are edited to include the cow gene sequence that produce proteins. Once we create the transformed yeast cell, we can make the proteins.

Precision fermentation

For thousand of years, humans have used fermentation to produce food and beverages like bread and beer using natural micro-organisms such as yeast.

Recent years saw the rise of biomass fermentation, which use a similar process to create an edible fungal mycelium that is rich in protein and nutrients.

The next evolution is precision fermentation, a high-tech way of making foods and ingredients. Precision fermentation involves engineering a micro-organism like yeast or fungi to produce an animal protein or fat, with the same taste, texture and nutrition as the real kind. Since 1980s, precision fermentation has been used extensively to produce a range of high-value pharmaceuticals and vitamins in fortified foods.

For example, it has been sued to create an enzyme found in rennet that is critical for cheese-making to avoid reliance on animal sources. Similarly, the diabetes treatment insulin is now made within a fermentation tank, so it no longer needs to be sourced from cows or pigs.

Costs have come down in recent years enabling thi technology to be used to produce higher volume, lower value products like food.

Producing cow-free casein

Casein, the unique protein found in dairy milk, can be made without cows by using precision fermentation.  It works like a high-tech brewing technique. The aim is to create  a factory at the cellular level that continues to multiply and grow significant quantities of casein protein. This is achieved by engineering yeast cells using genetic information from cow’s milk protein, as elaborated earlier.

It is first tested in small flasks in the laboratory where the cells are fed sugar and triggered to start producing the same ingredient. Once the process is working well and casein has the right flavour, taste, and nutrition as what are found in dairy milk, it is time to scale-up. That means increasing production quantities  by ten times. Finally, a purification process is undertaken to separate the pure proteins from the GM yeast cells. This leaves just the casein and whey.

Once a product can be developed cost-effectively at this stage, a company may invest in  commercial plant where they can then grow to produce 10,000 litres or more. Casein is the essential, functional dairy protein that gives cheese its stretchy, melty properties but had previously only been found in animal milk, such as cows and goats.  

Once the cow-free casein is produced, a traditional cheese-making techniques are used, which have been perfected over thousand of years. The cow-free casein is mixed with water, plant-based fats, salt, a small dose of sugar, vitamins and minerals.   

Companies involved in cow-free casein

Several companies have been involved in the production of cow-free casein to make  cheese for pizzas. They include:

No.	Companies	Countries	website
1	Dairy X Food	Israel	Dairyx.com
2	New Culture	US	Newculture.com
3	Eden Brew	Australia	Edenbrew.com.au
4	All G Foods	Australia	Allgfoods.com
5	Fooditive Group	Netherlands	Fodditivegruop.com
6	Standing Ovation	France	Standing-ovation.co

Besides these companies, other startups are also making cow-free proteins (casein), with some planning market entry via branded consumer products or a b2b strategy.

 The market for cow-free dairy protein is huge. It is estimated that the global cheese  industry is worth US$150 billion, mainly in the developed countries.  

Conclusion

In a few years, we hope the production of cow-free cheese through precision fermentation is significant, thanks to the efforts of the pioneering companies like DairyX and New Culture.

For me, I am interested to pursue the production of animal-free gelatine that is considered “halal” food ingredient for both Muslim and non-Muslims consumers.

Note on milk products

The list of products that you can create from one ingredient of milk is extensive. Add some heat and bacteria, and you have yogurt. Churn it up and you have got butter. Curdle and separate the proteins and you have got cheese. In addition, milk can be drunk and applied to many foods, breakfast cereals and hot beverages.  

In milk, casein constitutes about 80 per cent of the protein whilst 20 per cent is made up of whey proteins.