In Luxembourg, alternative proteins startup Moolec is developing soybeans with pig DNA to provide pig proteins to food manufacturers. The goal is to enhance the taste and texture of animal-free meat alternatives.
Gastón Paladini, CEO and co-founder of Moolec, tells Fast Company the approach allows the crop to be cultivated on farms like regular soybeans. The process, termed molecular farming, is less energy-intensive than cultivated meat and doesn’t require the specialized infrastructure of precision fermentation.
Moolec recently demonstrated the efficacy of its Piggy Sooy platform by producing soy seeds containing 5–26.6% porcine protein. To ensure commercial viability, Moolec estimates 5% of the soybean’s total protein content would need to be pig protein.
Production of pig protein by Moolec’s process also has a 60x lower carbon footprint than conventional pig farming.