‘Molecular Farming’ Startup To Grow Egg Proteins In Potatoes

EAT

Apr 9

The breakthrough technology can develop “real” egg white proteins by using potatoes instead of farming chickens.

Israeli molecular farming company PoLoPo is developing technology to grow animal proteins in potatoes. The innovative startup has just closed a $1.75m funding round to boost its pioneering work, which enables the production of real animal proteins without using any animals.

The company’s complex and scientific molecular farming model sees a plant being used as a ‘protein bio-factory’. The plant will serve as a robust platform for the easy-to-switch, custom-made production of proteins, with egg protein being its first target to be produced in an edible plant.

PoLoPo’s plant of choice will be a potato, and it will be able to produce high amounts of free amino-acids, which can be used as building blocks for the high-scale production of proteins in the potato tuber.

The technology can create proteins in a scalable and cost-effective way that could meet the food industry’s demand for proteins and to help feed the world’s growing population.

And by producing the Ovalbumin (the protein of the egg white) as its first protein, PoLoPo is targeting the $26.6 billion egg protein market. PoLoPo’s Ovalbumin will be identical to “real” egg Ovalbumin in terms of functionality, nutritional value, and protein sequence, but eliminate the need to farm chickens on egg farms.

“We want to produce better food for the world,” said Dr. Raya Liberman-Aloni, who co-founded PoLoPo with Dr. Maya Sapir-Mir.

PoLoPo co-founders Dr. Raya Liberman-Aloni and Dr. Maya Sapir-Mir. Credit: PoLoPo

“Molecular farming technology, being harnessed for the production of high-quality proteins, presents a huge opportunity to do so, alongside with taking the animals out of the equation and reducing the carbon footprint of the production process”

Potatoes as a Sustainable Solution

Rethinking the humble potato is a prime example of how innovative startups are using cutting-edge technology to create new solutions to help feed the world’s growing population in a more sustainable and accessible way.

Produced in over 100 countries worldwide and the third most important food crop in the world, potatoes are an abundant, resilient, cheap, and versatile yet underused food source.

PoLoPo’s potato-to-protein pathway is particularly boosted by the fact that the plants require relatively low investment to grow and are amenable to upscaling by common agricultural practice.

Now with the fresh funding, led by FoodLabs, PoLoPo will further expand its core team of world-class scientists and accelerate their R&D efforts in order to offer prototypes by next year.

In 2023 and beyond, Species Unite will continue to champion solutions including cultivated meat that can help transition the world away from animal products. Join our community by becoming a member today and check out our Future of Food podcast episodes to learn more about cellular agriculture.

And on April 18, join us for a free virtual panel discussion on the future of meat. Hosted by Species Unite Executive Director Elizabeth Novogratz, the panel features leaders from across the alternative protein industries, as they discuss the road to replacing animals from our food system.

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