Israeli food-tech startup Finally Foods has developed the world’s first genetically engineered potatoes containing cow-milk protein, a breakthrough that could revolutionize dairy production.
The company, part of Strauss Group’s The Kitchen food-tech incubator, is set to launch its first field trial next month in southern Israel, where the modified potatoes will be cultivated.
Once harvested, the potatoes will be processed to extract casein protein powder, a key component in dairy production. Casein, which makes up 80% of milk proteins, is essential for cheese-making and provides melting, stretching and foaming properties in dairy products.
Founded just a year ago, Finally Foods specializes in molecular agriculture, using potatoes as natural bio-reactors to produce casein protein. Bio-reactors serve as a medium for biochemical reactions, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional livestock-based dairy production, which contributes to high greenhouse gas emissions and requires extensive land and water resources. The company sees plant-based dairy proteins as a solution to global climate and food security challenges.
The innovative technology was developed with AI-driven genetic engineering from Israeli biotech firm Evogene. By analyzing vast genetic databases, researchers identified animal-derived DNA sequences that could be incorporated into plants, enabling potatoes to function as biological factories for protein production. The AI continuously optimizes both the growth process and protein yield.
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Potatoes were chosen as the host crop due to their high yield, ease of protein extraction and global availability. Unlike fermentation-based dairy alternatives, which rely on yeasts, bacteria and fungi but struggle to replicate real casein, this method offers a cost-effective and scalable approach to producing identical dairy proteins.
“This field trial is a major validation point for Finally Foods and will allow us to start working with dairy companies to develop dairy products with our casein,” said Finally Foods founder and CEO Dafna Gabbay.
“The integration of AI has not only significantly accelerated development but enables us to get high levels of functional natural casein in a potato and a highly efficient and cost-effective extraction process. One of the key challenges in molecular farming is the lengthy time-to-market, but Finally Foods is demonstrating that molecular farming can efficiently produce high-value proteins at scale in record time by drastically reducing the trial-and-error time.”