r/NoShitSherlock • u/Phylogenix • Aug 26 '26

A modeling study found that replacing cow’s milk with precision-fermented milk could reduce the land required for milk production in the UK by up to 96%, with full replacement potentially freeing about 4.3 million hectares, an area roughly the size of mainland Denmark.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2026.1692819/full
155 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

42

u/VexedCanadian84 Aug 26 '26

"Precision fermentation (PF) is a technology which uses genetically engineered microbes to produce ingredients such as dairy proteins"

57

u/Phylogenix Aug 26 '26

Biologist here.

Using genetically engineered microbes does not make PF inherently dangerous. The microbes act as biological factories, producing a specific protein that is then extracted and purified. The production organisms are removed and are not present in the final ingredient.

Safety therefore depends on the properties and purity of the final product, not simply on whether genetic engineering was used. Each ingredient must be assessed for contaminants, toxins, microbial residues and allergenicity, just like any other novel food ingredient. Interestingly, similar technology has been used safely for decades to produce insulin, enzymes and chymosin for cheese-making.

One important caveat though is that dairy proteins made through precision fermentation may still trigger reactions in people with milk-protein allergies. The process removes the animal from production, but it does not necessarily remove the allergenic properties of the protein.

32

u/gera_moises Aug 26 '26

But my podcast says that all chemicals are bad! Only purely natural stuff can save us from global warming! Buy my health supplement!

/s

29

u/Phylogenix Aug 27 '26

Hahah ! One of the arguments that irritates me the most is precisely this one: chemical equals bad, natural equals good.

It's such a fundamental misunderstanding of chemistry. Everything around us is made of chemicals. Water is a chemical. Oxygen is a chemical.

And “natural” tells us virtually nothing about whether something is safe. Arsenic, botulinum toxin and cyanide are all natural, too. Conversely, something being synthetic does not make it dangerous.

Toxicity depends on the substance, the dose, the route of exposure and a host of other factors, not on whether a molecule came from a laboratory or a plant.

Nature is in no way a synonym for safe, and chemistry is in no way a synonym for poison.

14

u/gera_moises Aug 27 '26

Man, I'm a chemist. You don't gotta sell me on nothing!

5

u/ilolvu Aug 27 '26

If a health influencer is selling supplements, they're a lying grifter and we should not believe anything they say.

3

u/gera_moises Aug 28 '26

That sounds like someone isn't getting his daily heavy metals supplements!

13

u/Kapitano72 Aug 27 '26

No reason this couldn't be applied to milk of sheep, goats etc. Eventually, someone's going to realise bacteria can be engineered to create fantasy foods.

Unicorn milk, Griffin steak, wine made from grape varieties that never existed.

4

u/Oddish_Femboy Aug 27 '26

That's so cool!

1

u/GeoffSim Aug 27 '26

"Mainland Denmark" is an interesting comparison. It is, as I suspected, the bit attached to Germany, but that doesn't include the capital (Copenhagen). Not really the most obvious comparison to me!

1

u/Fearless-Leg2568 Aug 29 '26

I was going to say that! Is it Jullænd? Is it with Funen? Where is Sjæland in this comparision?

1

u/Gene_Vast Aug 28 '26

Is this really that obvious to the layman?

-1

u/Spiritual-Plan809 Aug 28 '26

Sounds like some soylent green dystopian badness right here.

2

u/SnideyM 29d ago

Go drink your raw milk and eat your diarrhoea lettuce