Does synthetic biology change the future of food?

We need bovine serum to produce artificial meat, so we still have to raise cows.

More than a century ago, cattle farmers were fiercely opposed to margarine. They emphasize that butter-like stuff made from vegetable oil is not butter. More than 100 years later, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had to hold a public meeting on artificial meat , the kind of meat grown in the laboratory.

The question now is whether they should be called "meat" or not?

Artificial meat is attracting attention, but it's not the only product that has to cope with this kind of debate. Many researchers are using synthetic biotechnology to create unnatural perfumes and fragrances, according to Christina Agapakis, a biologist and creative director of Ginkgo Bioworks.

Gingko is a synthetic biology company based in Boston. They did not make artificial meat directly, but Gingko scientists designed microorganisms that secrete perfume and food.

The Verge page had an interview with their creative director about the situation that artificial meat is facing, the link between synthetic biology and sustainable development, and the future of food:

Christina Agapakis, creative director of Ginkgo Bioworks.

It seems that the discussion about the differentiation of synthetic foods will have an effect beyond the scope of artificial meat. What are the similarities that you see in the field of synthetic biology in general?

There is certainly a bigger debate than artificial meat. For example, genetically modified microorganisms: are natural or artificial bacteria? Legally, they are labeled "natural" because they come from plants. But there is definitely some ambiguity here.

A product made from genetically modified bacteria, it can still be called probiotics . But most people will not think it is "natural" anymore. The debate is still going on, and it's even bigger than 100 years ago when people wonder if margarine is really butter.

The problem is, consumers are interested in how things are made. There is always a reason for something to be created using synthetic biology. For many products, synthetic biology is a more sustainable and ethical way to create them.

Can you give me an example of how synthetic biology makes something more sustainable?

For example, if you want to create enough natural rose flavor to put in washing powder, you will need more land on Earth to grow roses. So, in a sense, when you can make fermented compounds and preparations with rose flavor, it will help reduce the cost of land and the environment to grow those special ingredients. .

Not only roses, you can also apply it to rare plants threatened with extinction such as sandalwood, which is often used as a perfume. Therefore, we want people to know that there are things being created in a more sustainable way. At least, in Gingko, we support the labeling of GMO and labeling specific to all these components.

Synthetic biology can become a more ethical and sustainable production method.

Is labeling GMO a controversial affair? Afraid that people will misunderstand and not buy it?

That's right, but I don't think it's real fear. There has been a recent article indicating that GMO labeling makes people less opposed to it. I think labeling has limited people's fears. You know: "If you hide something from me, it must be something evil".

Other studies also show that labeling GMO does not affect product sales.

And when it comes to artificial meat, the whole problem is to tell consumers it's artificial meat, right? Let everyone know how artificial meat is made and so is traditional meat.

Right now, it is still too early to argue whether artificial meat should be labeled, compared to whether the technology is sufficient to produce artificial meat to market us.

There has been a lot of controversy, but artificial meat has yet to hit the market.

I do not think that artificial meat is approaching low production costs to be marketed against real meat. The process of creating meat in the laboratory is very expensive. Scientists still have to clone tissue and create pieces one by one.

There are also technical problems that cannot be solved. For example, if you create a steak, you have to give your muscles some exercise . You can't just feed the meat tissue and it will have the same texture as the trained muscle. So people still can't have a steak to talk about or argue with. What you can do at this time is very limited.

In order to feed artificial meat, most of the cost will be spent on labor. And then the cost of serum and other materials to develop artificial meat is also not small. Serum is the irony of artificial meat today, right?

I do not see a method of meat culture that does not use serum, and the serum must be taken from slaughtered cows. Therefore, artificial meat is ultimately a by-product of the livestock industry.

Artificial meat is ultimately a by-product of the livestock industry.

In general, what challenges will synthetic biology projects face to commercialize and be available in the market?

Each project [synthetic biology] will have its own technical challenges. One of the biggest problems is competing with traditional products they are trying to replace.

Think about biofuels. They face a great challenge because the current oil price is too low. Similarly, cultured meat will have an extremely big challenge. Real meat is also very cheap now.

In the field of synthetic biology and the future of food, nothing can happen overnight. Nor is anything certain. This field will continue to grow but there must be changes in the way, and our debates will now affect that change.

I hope everyone will come to a common consensus that transparency is needed with synthetic foods, like "Let me tell you everything about how we make meat, even meat from the room. experiments and slaughterhouses ".

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