The new milk-less cheese is the brainchild of experienced biohackers who hail from California's Counter Culture Labs in Oakland and BioCurious in Sunnyvale. By using an engineered version of regular baker's yeast, the result is achieving a real vegan cheese which is the first of its kind in the world.
Currently, the vegan cheeses that flood the markets are either soy or nut based. While this can be healthy, the taste is somehow compromised as they don't taste like real cheese. The difference in the taste is more discernible among those who have switched from being non-vegan to vegan. For them, there's nothing like tasting the cheese's creamy and salty goodness.
The exasperation to combine vegan goodness with real cheese flavor is now resolved with the successful experiment of the biohackers team. The team was able to produce cheese proteins by using the genetic sequences normally found in mammals. The collected DNA blueprints are inserted into the baker's yeast.
The product is then classified as vegan-compatible since it has proteins which did not come from any animals. While it is true that the collected genes are inspired by mammals, the DNA-filled yeast absolutely came from scratch and assures that none of its genes and organisms are ex animal parts.
Perhaps the weird part of the experiment is based on the fact that some of the animal DNA sequences used may be human. The group had also taken human DNA sequencing while on the process of creating some cheeses. They explained that compared to drinking milk produced by cows, it is healthier for humans to consume milk that's been produced by human bodies. All they have to do is to mix together some water, sugar, and oil to produce the type of milk that can be made into cheese without using any antibiotic, hormone, and "animal cruelty."
Like all novel ideas and experiments, the team of biohackers is also faced with several challenges. One of them is the technology's safety level. To address this, the team had to regularly re-evaluate risks and outline safe-guards to promote safety.
Another point of concern is the experiment's cost factor. Utilizing yeast in protein making factories is a very complex and challenging process.
In order for the team to realize their "cheesy" dream, they decided to launch an Indiegogo campaign which would help them raise $15K that they can use to get all the ingredients they need. It seemed like vegan cheese will soon be landing several households as the team successfully reached their goal within just two weeks.
