Chinese scientists have genetically modified a fungus commonly used in the production of meat substitutes to make it an even more environmentally friendly source of protein than chicken – one of the farmed animals that has the least environmental impact.
The team used CRISPR-based gene editing to modify Fusarium venenatum, improving its production efficiency and reducing its environmental impact without introducing foreign DNA, according to a paper published in the peer-reviewed Trends in Biotechnology.
Mycoprotein, or ‘protein from fungus’, has a texture and taste similar to meat but needs less land, produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions and has a lower risk of water pollution than chicken and other animal proteins.
Alternatives to meat have been growing in popularity, with cell-cultured proteins – also known as lab-grown meat – attracting interest. However, there have been concerns that large-scale production may have a larger environmental impact than beef.
Compared to the unmodified F. venenatum, the engineered strain consumed around 44% fewer nutrients while producing mycoprotein 88% faster – offering up to 61% less global warming potential.
The modified product would require 70% less land than the amount used for the country’s chicken production, while reducing the risk of freshwater pollution by 78%, according to a report by China Science Daily.
Animal farming occupies around 40% of agricultural land worldwide, uses large amounts of freshwater and contributes to around 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the researchers.
Mycoprotein is already a commercially available product, with British brand Quorn selling products like faux chicken nuggets and meat-like mince to mainly European and North American markets.
The production method involves using a culture medium of nutrients like sugars and ammonium sulphate to ferment the fungus inside giant bioreactors – a process that can be resource- intensive, with low nutrient to mycoprotein conversion rates.
The researchers compared 6 countries with different energy mixes and estimated that a switch to the engineered strain could reduce the environmental impact, including global warming potential, from between 4 and 61.3%. It could also save more than 40% of the sugar substrate currently needed to make the product, according to the paper.
