Today molecular farming startup Moolec showed off its new soybean platform for producing animal proteins, the “Piggy Sooy.”
According to the company, the new soybean reached an expression level of up to 26.6% of total soluble protein in soy seeds, which they say is four times higher than initially projected. Moolec says that the results can be observed visually in the pink color of the bean, which is essentially the same color as a pig. The company says the success of its soybean platform has led them to “file a new patent utilizing a novel approach aiming to provide the company with a frictionless regulatory pathway going forward.”
Moolec, a spinout of Bioceres Crop Solutions, is one of the first companies to utilize molecular farming to create alternative proteins. Molecular farming is that it uses crops as a protein factory, compared to traditional microbial fermentation techniques that utilize more capital-intensive fermentation infrastructure. Genetic engineers introduce animal DNA directly into the seeds, and once the genetically engineered seeds are planted, traditional farming management techniques can be employed to grow the crops until they are ready for harvest.
The efficiency of the technique recently led to the Good Food Institute declaring that molecular farming as the ‘fourth pillar’ of alternative protein. According to GFI, there are currently 12 companies worldwide using this technology to grow various products, including casein and lactoferrin (Forte Protein and Greenovation Protein), animal-free dairy proteins for cheese, ice cream, and yogurt (Miruku, Mozza, and Nobell Foods), growth factors for cultivated meat (Tiamet Sciences and Bright Biotech), and more.
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