Bovine Casein Grown in Plant Seeds Reaches 1.26% Protein Yield in Miruku-Linked Study

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in collaboration with Miruku, have successfully grown beta-casein, a key milk protein, in plant seeds at a protein yield of 1.26%. This marks a significant improvement over previous attempts, with earlier efforts in soybean and tomato yielding much lower protein levels. Miruku, along with other companies, is aiming to produce dairy proteins directly in crops, eliminating the need for traditional dairy farming.

The team managed to achieve higher protein levels by engineering the plant to produce casein at a higher percentage of its total protein. They also found a way to avoid a costly production step by adjusting the protein to behave as though it had already been chemically modified. While the research is still in its early stages and questions remain about scalability and cost, these results are a promising step towards making plant-grown dairy proteins a viable option for food manufacturers.