Tired of turkey? Try gene edited, meat-like fungi.

It might not seem so obvious when walking past rows of vacuum-sealed Butterball
turkeys
at the supermarket, but the world is on the
brink of a protein shortage
. Global demand for animal-based protein is
expected to double by 2050
and while plant-based alternatives exist,
enthusiasm around them has wavered in recent years
. One possible solution to the brewing protein problem:
gene-edited
fungus.

Using
CRISPR gene editing technology
, researchers from Jiangnan University in China took a fungus that is already used as a meat alternative (
Fusarium venenatum
) and tweaked its DNA to make it easier to digest and less resource-intensive to produce. The result, if brought up to scale, is a genetically engineered fungus that tastes like meat and could have a smaller environmental footprint than traditional livestock or even “
lab-grown
” cell-cultured meat. The study’s findings were
published today in the journal
Trends in Biotechnology
.

“We successfully made a fungus not only more nutritious but also more environmentally friendly by tweaking its genes,” corresponding author and Jiangnan assistant professor Xiao Liu
said in a statement
. “Gene-edited foods like this can meet growing food demands without the environmental costs of conventional farming.” 

A picture of
Fusarium venenatum. Image: Xiao Liu

Turning fungi into ‘meat’

Deriving protein alternatives from fungi and other microbes isn’t new. The process typically involves
selecting a microbe and growing it in a steel bioreactor
. Once inside the bioreactor, it’s fed a steady supply of nutrients—usually a combination of sugars and minerals. Over time, this mixture develops into a large, protein-rich biomass that often looks like a goopy slurry or a soft bread dough, depending on the microbe. 

Even if that doesn’t sound all that appetizing, the resulting biomass can then be processed into a variety of high-protein foods. Unlike raising cattle or pigs, microbial cultivation isn’t dependent on seasons or temperature fluctuations. It also can be more sustainable, as the production of animal proteins may
account for around 37 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissi
ons.

The first commercial microbial-protein product,
a type of animal feed called Pruteen,
actually dates back to the 1970s. Today, several other varieties are available for human consumption in grocery stores.

The power of
Fusarium veneatum

When it comes to making these alternatives with fungi, engineers have long preferred
Fusarium venenatum
for
protein farming
because it produces a texture that closely resembles meat. But the production process isn’t perfect. This particular fungus has thick cell walls that make it difficult for humans to digest, and it requires a substantial amount of resources to grow it into a biomass that’s useful as a protein alternative. That’s a problem, especially if part of the appeal of microbial protein is reducing the environmental impact associated with traditional animal agriculture.

That’s where the
power of CRISPR
comes in. Liu and his colleagues wanted to see if they could identify and “knock out” the specific genes in the fungus’s DNA to simultaneously boost  digestibility and overall production efficiency. It took them some time to find the right targets, but eventually they removed genes associated with the enzymes chitin synthase and pyruvate decarboxylase. Eliminating the chitin synthase-related enzymes reduced the fungus’s cell wall integrity, making it easier to digest. Meanwhile, removing the pyruvate decarboxylase-related enzymes, fine-tuned the fungus’s metabolism, reducing the amount of nutrients needed to produce protein.

This new, edited DNA strain require
d 44 percent less sugar
to produce the same amount of protein as a non-genetically altered strain. It was also able to produce protein
88 percent faster than the original version
. Using these figures as a starting point, the team simulated the environmental impact of producing their fungus at scale compared to traditional animal protein. While there’s many factors involved such as the type of agricultural infrastructure available to particular counties, the researchers reported that their genetically altered strain would require 70 percent less land to produce the same amount of protein as chickens.

“Taken together, this work provides compelling evidence that CRISPR/Cas-based technology is a powerful gene editing tool that could simultaneously enhance the nutritional properties and sustainability of MP [microbial protein], which will help drive long-term development of the alternative protein industry,” the researchers write in the paper. 

Related: [
This fermented meat alternative could help halve global deforestation rates
]

Reducing  animal consumption is easier said than done

These new findings come amid a period of rapid change in protein alternatives. While popular plant-based meat products, such as those offered by Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, experienced major commercial success in the mid-2010s, the brands have seen sales decline as of late. They have also faced growing criticism,
whether justified or not
, for containing
higher levels of sodium
and
other additives
compared to animal protein.

Cultivated meat, which refers to animal protein grown in a lab from animal cells, is gaining popular attention and
attracting billions in investment
at the same time. Shoppers are also curious: a 2024
survey
from Purdue University found that two-thirds of respondents said they would try cultivated meat or chicken in a restaurant. 

Even though this type of cultivated protein is still many years away from mainstream availability (a single lab-grown chicken nugget currently
costs around $50 to produce
), it is already facing backlash. In the United States,
several states including Florida and Mississippi
, have already passed legislation banning the production or sale of cultivated meat. It’s also  not a uniquely American aversion. Last year, Italy officially became
the first country to ban the production
, sale, or import of cultivated meat or animal feed.

All that’s to say fermented microbial meat alternatives like fungus could have some big barriers to break down, especially as global
demand for protein-rich diets
continues to skyrocket. Increased use of gene-edited fungal foods could mean less land and fewer resources devoted to raising livestock, and fewer  creatures living out their final days in a slaughterhouse. 

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Tired of turkey? Try gene edited, meat-like fungi.
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