Re:Hacking the genome of fungi for smart foods of the future
by adrian_b on Wednesday March 27, 2024 @11:32AM
(#39840599)
> It's worse than animal agriculture based on what evidence?
Currently there is no evidence of any kind. The costs of meat production are well known, but the costs in energy and chemicals for the production of various kinds of protein extracts are not known, because they are "proprietary".
I nobody is able to offer for sale low-cost protein extracts for human consumption we can only assume that the production costs are high, i.e. that each pound of protein extract requires a large amount of energy and/or chemicals.
> a study published in Nature 2022 found that
Searching the Internet right now, I have found a non-paywalled copy of that study: "Projected environmental benefits of replacing beef with microbial protein".
Nevertheless, exactly like I have expected, that study is useless. It does not contain what the abstract says.
It contains what seems to be an accurate analysis of what would be gained if the production of meat would be reduced, by using an alternative source of protein.
Nevertheless, to compute the net benefit, we also need a computation of the production costs for the protein provided by the alternative source. Such a computation is missing from the article. There is no information about the energy consumption and about the chemicals consumption that would be required by the alternative sources.
Some forms of microbial fermentation can provide high-quality protein, perhaps even without any harmful substances that must be removed, but the protein has a low concentration in the growth medium. Separating the protein from the water and from the waste products of the fermentation would need much energy.
In the more distant future, growing a bioengineered multicellular organism, like a fungus or a parasitic plant, seems a much more viable path, because such an organism can grow a big edible fruiting body, with whatever nutritional composition and texture is desired. Such an edible fruiting body can be detached and used for cooking with minimal processing, without additional energy consumption.
Currently there is no evidence of any kind. The costs of meat production are well known, but the costs in energy and chemicals for the production of various kinds of protein extracts are not known, because they are "proprietary".
I nobody is able to offer for sale low-cost protein extracts for human consumption we can only assume that the production costs are high, i.e. that each pound of protein extract requires a large amount of energy and/or chemicals.
> a study published in Nature 2022 found that
Searching the Internet right now, I have found a non-paywalled copy of that study: "Projected environmental benefits of replacing beef with microbial protein".
Nevertheless, exactly like I have expected, that study is useless. It does not contain what the abstract says.
It contains what seems to be an accurate analysis of what would be gained if the production of meat would be reduced, by using an alternative source of protein.
Nevertheless, to compute the net benefit, we also need a computation of the production costs for the protein provided by the alternative source. Such a computation is missing from the article. There is no information about the energy consumption and about the chemicals consumption that would be required by the alternative sources.
Some forms of microbial fermentation can provide high-quality protein, perhaps even without any harmful substances that must be removed, but the protein has a low concentration in the growth medium. Separating the protein from the water and from the waste products of the fermentation would need much energy.
In the more distant future, growing a bioengineered multicellular organism, like a fungus or a parasitic plant, seems a much more viable path, because such an organism can grow a big edible fruiting body, with whatever nutritional composition and texture is desired. Such an edible fruiting body can be detached and used for cooking with minimal processing, without additional energy consumption.