Lab-grown meat keeps struggling with high costs and energy use. But there’s another contender that might actually work: genetically edited fungi. I guess you could call it the dark horse of sustainable protein. Chinese researchers used CRISPR to transform a common fungus into something that tastes like chicken, digests easier than the original, and cuts environmental impact by 61%. This isn’t some distant future scenario. It’s happening now.
The fungus that could guess your dinner cravings
Fusarium venenatum has been around for years as the main ingredient in products like Quorn. It’s got decent protein and a meat-like texture, but it comes with problems. Those thick cell walls make it harder to digest, and growing it still takes plenty of resources. Researchers at Jiangnan University decided to fix that with CRISPR gene editing.
They deleted a single gene called pyruvate decarboxylase, which fine-tuned how the fungus processes nutrients. No foreign DNA added, just optimization of what was already there. The result is a fungus that grows into protein-rich biomass while using far fewer resources. This is precision editing at its best, showing how far we’ve come from the old frankenfood fears.
Why this thing actually matters for the planet
The numbers here are genuinely impressive. This CRISPR-edited fungus reduces global warming potential by up to 61% compared to the unmodified version. Stack that against traditional livestock or energy-hungry lab meat, and the difference is massive.
It also needs 70% less land to produce the same protein amount. When agricultural expansion is destroying forests and biodiversity, that matters. But environmental wins mean nothing if people won’t eat the stuff. The good news is this engineered fungus tastes like chicken and is easier to digest than the original. Mycoprotein was already considered sustainable, but nobody had really optimized the full production footprint until now. Getting both the environmental side and the eating experience right could drive actual adoption.
From lab to your plate
Global protein demand keeps climbing, and our current methods can’t keep up without wrecking the planet. This gene-edited fungus offers a realistic path forward. It makes a stronger case than traditional livestock and looks more practical than many lab-grown meat projects still burning through cash and energy.
Our existing food system has serious problems. From contaminated meat causing UTIs to fatal tick-borne meat allergies, relying heavily on animal products creates mounting risks. A sustainable, digestible fungal protein that mimics chicken could be a way out.
Getting from lab to grocery stores won’t be simple. Many people still worry about gene-edited foods, even though CRISPR makes precise changes without adding foreign DNA. Education will be key to showing this is safe and beneficial. But if this scales up, this humble fungus could help build a more secure and sustainable food system. When you think about dinner options, I guess fungi might be higher on the list than you expected.
The research appeared in Trends in Biotechnology, detailing the metabolic engineering work in the study{rel=“nofollow”}. More analysis of the environmental benefits is available like this one{rel=“nofollow”}.