Synthetic biology uses genetic engineering techniques to alter the DNA of microorganisms, like algae, bacteria, and yeast, to produce entirely new compounds through fermentation—including milk and egg proteins, collagen, fat, flavorings, and more.^{4 5} Yet the FDA’s National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard doesn’t require these products to be labeled GMO because they aren’t considered transgenic (they don’t incorporate DNA from another species)^{6 7} so they are often marketed as non-GMO and “made with precision fermentation”—terms that appeal to natural and organic consumers.^{8 9} However, the Non-GMO Project prohibits syn-bio ingredients in their standards.¹⁰

Transparency or mirage?

In a recent article published in SAGE Journals, scientists note that while companies producing these alternative proteins claim transparency, they’re also protecting their pending patents with great secrecy. They wrote, “…Silicon Valley food tech entrepreneurs aspire to bring a new food system into being and convince their audiences that this food future is both better and achievable. …their representational practices make it difficult, if not impossible, for the public—or anyone really—to meaningfully assess the promises and their potential consequences …”¹¹

How will family farms and global food systems be impacted?

Errol Schweizer, an industry expert, writes in Forbes magazine that "the investor model here is very Silicon Valley … compete aggressively with the goal of cornering this market as a monopoly or a duopoly."^{12 13} He also points out in the seminar “How Do You Milk A Microbe?” that the current titans of industrialized meat and poultry production, including Tyson and Cargill, are invested in these animal-free ingredients as well.¹⁴ And the non-profit advocacy organization, ETC Group, in its Who Will Feed Us? report, finds that globally "more than 190 million people… rely on pastoralism as an important source of protein and income." They warn this lab-made-protein trend could destabilize hundreds of millions of people's lives.¹⁵

Is it really better for the planet?

The microbes generating syn-bio ingredients require a growth medium, typically corn or soy.¹⁶ In the U.S., more than 90 percent of these crops are grown with genetically modified (GM) seed in systems reliant on environmentally destructive practices.¹⁷ So how are the companies making big sustainability claims sourcing the feedstock for their operations?^{18 19} And as production scales up, will it increase the acreage of GM crops in the U.S and globally? Also, what kind of waste and fossil fuel emissions do these fermentation factories generate?^{20 21}

What we DO know

One point often missing from the buzz around lab-grown “animal” products is the climate-positive benefits of animals raised in a regenerative organic model.²² Albert Straus points to data showing that by 2023 Straus Organic Milk will achieve a similar “climate-positive” footprint to alternative plant-based milk. The Straus Family Creamery^™ is committed to creating a “carbon-neutral dairy farming model” rooted in organic agriculture by 2023 as well. Practices including carbon farming (creating healthy soil to sequester CO2), electric farm equipment, and feed supplements for reducing cows’ enteric methane emissions will contribute to this success.^{23 24}

The evidence is in the soil at Alexandre Family Farm^™, the first certified regenerative dairy in the country.²⁵ As reported by Civil Eats, Alexandre Farm’s soil samples have gone from 2 to 3 percent organic matter to 8 to 15 percent since they've transitioned to regenerative practices.²⁶ And research from the University of Wisconsin finds that the carbon sequestration benefits of organic practices and pasture-grazing result in 24 percent lower emissions for small organic dairy farms compared to conventional ones.²⁷

Perhaps the most critical question then is this: How is our food—plant or animal—produced? Because, as this column has said before, "It's not the cow, it's the ‘HOW’!" 

References

1. “Sustainable Animal-Free Dairy & Protein.” Perfect Day, 21 Oct. 2022, https://perfectday.com/.
2. “New Gmos - the Non-GMO Project.” The Non-GMO Project - Everyone Deserves an Informed Choice, 15 Sept. 2022, https://www.nongmoproject.org/newgmos/.
3. “The Playbook for GMO 2.0 Is Going Exactly to Plan, as Consumer Are Being Fooled.” Organic Insider, 23 Sept. 2022, https://organicinsider.com/newsletter/synthetic-biology-synbio-dairy-ri….
4. “Synthetic Biology Products Entering the Market Unregulated, Unlabeled-and Even with Non-GMO Claims.” The Organic & Non-GMO Report, https://non-gmoreport.com/articles/synthetic-biology-products-entering-…
5. “Synthetic Biology - the Non-GMO Project.” The Non-GMO Project - Everyone Deserves an Informed Choice, 20 Feb. 2016, https://www.nongmoproject.org/high-risk/synthetic-biology/.
6. TheNonGMOProject, director. Tracking New GMOs in the Supply Chain. YouTube, YouTube, 28 Feb. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBLrmb5n0s8&list=PLa98XxDp2uBGBrAH5hlx9…. Accessed 11 Nov. 2022.
7. “Transgenic.” Genome.gov, https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Transgenic.
8. Schweizer, Errol. “What Consumers Should Ask about Precision Fermentation.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 4 Mar. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/errolschweizer/2022/03/02/what-should-cons….
9. “Synthetic Biology Products Entering the Market Unregulated, Unlabeled-and Even with Non-GMO Claims.” The Organic & Non-GMO Report, https://non-gmoreport.com/articles/synthetic-biology-products-entering-…
10. “New Gmos - the Non-GMO Project.” The Non-GMO Project - Everyone Deserves an Informed Choice, 15 Sept. 2022, https://www.nongmoproject.org/newgmos/.
11. Guthman, Julie, and Charlotte Biltekoff. “Magical Disruption? Alternative Protein and the Promise of De-Materialization.” Https://Journals.sagepub.com/, SAGE Journals, Oct. 2020, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2514848620963125.
12. “Errol Schweizer.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, https://www.forbes.com/sites/errolschweizer/?sh=7bac33a47451.
13. Schweizer, Errol. “What Consumers Should Ask about Precision Fermentation.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 4 Mar. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/errolschweizer/2022/03/02/what-should-cons….
14. TheNonGMOProject, director. How Do You Milk A Microbe? YouTube, YouTube, 17 June 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri4k-qZWgSA&list=PLa98XxDp2uBGBrAH5hlx9…. Accessed 11 Nov. 2022.
15. “Rise of the Petri-Proteins?” ETC Group, 8 Jan. 2021, https://www.etcgroup.org/2019/rise-of-petri-proteins.
16. “New Gmos - the Non-GMO Project.” The Non-GMO Project - Everyone Deserves an Informed Choice, 15 Sept. 2022, https://www.nongmoproject.org/newgmos/.
17. “Recent Trends in GE Adoption.” USDA ERS - Recent Trends in GE Adoption, https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/adoption-of-genetically-engineer….
18. “Rise of the Petri-Proteins?” ETC Group, 8 Jan. 2021, https://www.etcgroup.org/2019/rise-of-petri-proteins.
19. “The Playbook for GMO 2.0 Is Going Exactly to Plan, as Consumer Are Being Fooled.” Organic Insider, 23 Sept. 2022, https://organicinsider.com/newsletter/synthetic-biology-synbio-dairy-ri….
20. Schweizer, Errol. “What Consumers Should Ask about Precision Fermentation.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 4 Mar. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/errolschweizer/2022/03/02/what-should-cons….
21. “Rise of the Petri-Proteins?” ETC Group, 8 Jan. 2021, https://www.etcgroup.org/2019/rise-of-petri-proteins.
22. “The Playbook for GMO 2.0 Is Going Exactly to Plan, as Consumer Are Being Fooled.” Organic Insider, 23 Sept. 2022, https://organicinsider.com/newsletter/synthetic-biology-synbio-dairy-ri….
23. TheNonGMOProject, director. How Do You Milk A Microbe? YouTube, YouTube, 17 June 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri4k-qZWgSA&list=PLa98XxDp2uBGBrAH5hlx9…. Accessed 11 Nov. 2022.
24. “Carbon-Neutral Farming.” Straus Family Creamery, 8 May 2022, https://www.strausfamilycreamery.com/carbon-neutral/.
25. Alexandre Family Farm, 31 Oct. 2022, https://alexandrefamilyfarm.com/.
26. Wozniacka, Gosia. “The Nation's First Regenerative Dairy Works with Nature to Heal the Soil-at Scale.” Civil Eats, 14 Sept. 2021, https://civileats.com/2021/09/07/the-nations-first-regenerative-dairy-w….
27. “Organic Dairy Farming Can Store Carbon and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Study Finds.” The Organic & Non-GMO Report, https://non-gmoreport.com/organic-dairy-farming-can-store-carbon-and-re….