Milk without a Cow: Israeli Scientists Taught Plants to Produce Milk Protein
Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem made plant seeds produce beta-casein — one of the key proteins in cow's milk.
Photo: LookByMedia
Milk production might look completely different from what we are used to. Instead of cowsheds — fields, instead of milking machines — seed presses. Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are working on such a technology.
Researchers managed to genetically modify plants so that they produce beta-casein — one of the important proteins in cow's milk. Among other things, caseins are responsible for the properties that allow cheese to curdle, form the desired structure, and melt. Scientists assure that in the future, instead of cows, people will be able to 'milk' plants. The Times of Israel provides the details.
Initially, scientists conducted an experiment on Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) — a small plant very often used in genetic research. Later, the technology was transferred to safflower (Carthamus) — an oilseed crop capable of tolerating drought well.
The result turned out to be even more interesting than the researchers expected. They assumed that the milk protein created by the plant would accumulate in ordinary cellular 'storage facilities'. But instead, beta-casein formed structures similar to those in which casein naturally occurs in milk.
In the most successful plants, beta-casein accounted for about 1.26% of the total soluble protein in the seeds. This is significantly more than in many previous experiments on casein production in plants.
One of the study authors near safflower plants. Photo: Mai Shamir / timesofisrael.com
Seeds Can Be 'Milked'
One of the main advantages of the technology is the relative simplicity of protein extraction.
According to the authors, seeds can literally be 'milked': they are passed through a press, and the resulting mass is separated in a centrifuge into a solid part and protein-rich 'cream'. This is a much simpler raw material for industrial processing than maintaining a herd of cows.
Researchers hope that in the future, such plants can be grown on a large scale and used as a kind of biological factories for milk proteins.
According to the authors, this technology can make milk production more environmentally friendly. Animal husbandry accounts for about 15% of greenhouse gas emissions, including methane. Genetic engineering allows transferring genes responsible for milk protein production into plants, which require significantly fewer resources to obtain them.
Scientists are confident that their technology will allow them to compete in a huge market. According to estimates, the global dairy industry already exceeds one trillion dollars, and by 2035 it could grow to 1.6 trillion. Demand is increasing along with the planet's population and interest in protein nutrition.
However, this new technology fundamentally differs from conventional plant-based substitutes. Soy or oat 'milk' is similar to cow's milk in appearance and partly in taste, but it does not contain real milk proteins.
Here, the plant, thanks to the introduced gene, produces beta-casein itself. This is especially interesting for cheese producers: the protein has the ability to curdle and form emulsions, and caseins play an important role in how cheese behaves when heated.
For now, however, it's about a scientific result, not about safflower milk that will appear in supermarkets tomorrow. Businesses still need to transform the experimental technology into cheap and stable industrial production.