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  • Biotech uses fermentation to produce milk proteins without cows

    Technology technology
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    F
    Copy of the article because I don’t respect Microsoft: With finite natural resources and a growing demand for food, the world must find ways to overcome this challenge. One proposal comes from a Brazilian startup that will produce milk proteins without the need for cows. Founded in 2023, Future Cow wants to transform the dairy market by using precision fermentation, a process that combines high technology, sustainability, and production efficiency. "Our mission is to make milk without a cow," summarizes Leonardo Vieira, the company's co-founder and CEO. "Precision fermentation is a technology similar to that used in the production of beer or wine." The entrepreneur explains that the technology involves identifying the genetic sequence in the animal's DNA that provides instructions for producing the milk protein. The sequence is then copied and encoded in a host, which can be a fungus, yeast, or bacterium. The host then multiplies in a fermentation tank with a calorie source for nutrition. The result is a liquid that—after being filtered and dried—is transformed into the initially programmed milk proteins. "These proteins serve as ingredients for the food and dairy industry, which can recombine the product to create various derivatives," he explains. The foodtech will use yeast as hosts to initially produce casein and whey protein, two of the main proteins found in milk. Casein is widely used in cheese and yogurt production, while whey is rich in protein and highly valued in the food supplement market. There are also other proteins in milk, each with specific applications. "One of them is lactoferrin, which is extremely difficult to produce using traditional methods," says Vieira. "It takes 10,000 liters of milk to obtain just one kilo of this ingredient." #From the laboratory to the market Future Cow began operating in the Supera Technology Park in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo state. There, it produced the first grams of milk protein using precision fermentation. It was then selected to take part in the DeepTech Acceleration Program (PACE) of the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) in Campinas. It is now testing the scaling of the process, which is a critical stage for biotech companies. "Ninety-five percent of biotechs fail when they leave a bench environment and go to a pilot plant or other relevant environment," recalls Vieira. "We're very optimistic that with the support of the CNPEM and the available infrastructure, we'll achieve the scale-up we need for the next stage." The startup does not intend to replace animal milk entirely; rather, it wants to create complementary solutions for the industry. "When precision fermentation began, it was all very black or white: the product was either animal or it wasn't animal. Now, we see more hybrid models," Vieira observes. According to Vieira, executives from large dairies claim to already purchase all the available milk on the market. "They can't increase production by 20% or 30% with just the traditional raw material," he says. "If they can mix our ingredient with the animal product to create a hybrid product and increase the scale, it'll be a significant gain," he says. Another relevant aspect is the decarbonization agenda of large companies. "Even if precision fermentation doesn't fully replace animal milk, a 10% or 20% reduction in the carbon footprint of large corporations in the food sector would already represent a considerable environmental impact," Vieira continues. #Brazilian potential The sector for alternative proteins produced by precision fermentation is still in its early stages, but startups specializing in the segment are already emerging around the world. "Each one follows a different technological route. There's variation in the type of host [fungus, yeast, or bacteria] and in the target proteins," says Vieira. The entrepreneur points out that Brazil is in a privileged strategic position to lead the global market. "Brazil is the only country in the world that has an abundance of water, sugar, and renewable energy, which are the three essential inputs for fermentation. It's a unique opportunity for the country," he points out. "With these characteristics, Brazil can take the lead in a strategic industry for the future of global food." Future Cow's technical and economic analyses show that producing milk proteins on a 300,000-liter scale will be less expensive than traditional production methods. He points out that when precision fermentation reaches an industrial scale with lower costs, it will disrupt the market: "If Brazil only focuses on traditional agriculture at that point, we'll be left behind." The researcher cites New Zealand as an example. The country has characteristics similar to Brazil's, and a significant portion of its gross domestic product (GDP) comes from milk exports. "They've already realized that the sector is going to change and are moving to avoid being left behind," he comments. "I've been trying to alert the Brazilian government authorities to this potential." #Future prospects Future Cow already has a functional strain and is now looking to increase production yields. "The more the strain produces, the more the unit price falls. So we're optimizing the fermentation processes," Vieira asserts. The expectation is that the product will be ready and available for sale by the end of 2026. Since the product is an ingredient, the company will not sell directly to the end consumer, but rather will act as a supplier to the food industry. This approach could facilitate the startup's entry into the market. Vieira explains, "As an ingredient, our product can be incorporated into existing products without facing a high entry barrier." The startup will initially market the proteins it has already developed before expanding to other varieties. "Only after the first commercialization will we develop other proteins," says the entrepreneur. The company is preparing to take part in VivaTech, an innovation fair that will be held in Paris, France, in June. "The technology already exists in other countries and at VivaTech we'll be able to show that Brazil has it too," says Vieira. "We can win over investors who realize that we can manufacture in Brazil and export to other locations. This kind of exposure abroad is uncommon for Brazilian companies." At the meeting, Future Cow aims to connect with the innovation ecosystem, raise awareness of the development of the technology in Brazil, and attract potential corporate partners. "We want to demonstrate that we're developing alternative proteins and, with this, attract multinationals from the dairy sector to be our clients." #Scientific entrepreneurship One aspect that Vieira highlights is the combination of skills at Future Cow. While he brings experience in business and entrepreneurship, his partner, Rosana Goldbeck, has a Ph.D. in food engineering from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and has already studied meat cultivation in Brazil. He says, "This mix is an important differentiator, as it brings together someone who understands business and someone who understands the technology." According to Vieira, this is one of the main barriers preventing more innovations from Brazilian universities from becoming commercial products: "Brazil produces a lot of science, has many scientific articles, but most of them don't become businesses," he laments. "There need to be more connections between the academic environment and entrepreneurship in Brazil." Provided by FAPESP
  • How the Rubin Observatory Will Reinvent Astronomy

    Technology technology
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    Giant twice-reflecting mirror of low-expansion borrosilicate covered in pure silver and a giant digital camera with filters.
  • Are Voice Assistants Becoming Family Members?

    Technology technology
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    A family member with no inherent moral compass or empathy, whose eyes, ears, thoughts and agency belong to teams of trained profit-seekers in a different country. I disapprove of this humanization of software.
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    I'm not afraid of that at all. But if you draw shit tons of power from a crappy socket, things start to heat up real quick. Like getting really fucking hot, as in burn your house down hot.
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    Ah, yes. That's correct, sorry I misunderstood you. Yeah that's pretty lame that it doesn't work on desktop. I remember wanting to use that several times.
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    cole@lemdro.idC
    they all burn up, that article does not dispute that
  • 92 Stimmen
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    You don’t understand. The tracking and spying is the entire point of the maneuver. The ‘children are accessing porn’ thing is just a Trojan horse to justify the spying. I understand what are you saying, I simply don't consider to check if a law is applied as a Trojan horse in itself. I would agree if the EU had said to these sites "give us all the the access log, a list of your subscriber, every data you gather and a list of every IP it ever connected to your site", and even this way does not imply that with only the IP you could know who the user is without even asking the telecom company for help. So, is it a Trojan horse ? Maybe, it heavily depend on how the EU want to do it. If they just ask "show me how you try to avoid that a minor access your material", which normally is the fist step, I don't see how it could be a Trojan horse. It could become, I agree on that. As you pointed out, it’s already illegal for them to access it, and parents are legally required to prevent their children from accessing it. No, parents are not legally required to prevent it. The seller (or provider) is legally required. It is a subtle but important difference. But you don’t lock down the entire population, or institute pre-crime surveillance policies, just because some parents are not going to follow the law. True. You simply impose laws that make mandatories for the provider to check if he can sell/serve something to someone. I mean asking that the cashier of mall check if I am an adult when I buy a bottle of wine is no different than asking to Pornhub to check if the viewer is an adult. I agree that in one case is really simple and in the other is really hard (and it is becoming harder by the day). You then charge the guilty parents after the offense. Ok, it would work, but then how do you caught the offendind parents if not checking what everyone do ? Is it not simpler to try to prevent it instead ?
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    Apparently, it was required to be allowed in that state: Reading a bit more, during the sentencing phase in that state people making victim impact statements can choose their format for expression, and it's entirely allowed to make statements about what other people would say. So the judge didn't actually have grounds to deny it. No jury during that phase, so it's just the judge listening to free form requests in both directions. It's gross, but the rules very much allow the sister to make a statement about what she believes her brother would have wanted to say, in whatever format she wanted. From: https://sh.itjust.works/comment/18471175 influence the sentence From what I've seen, to be fair, judges' decisions have varied wildly regardless, sadly, and sentences should be more standardized. I wonder what it would've been otherwise.