Alpine Bio
Assembly Line
Alpine Bio harvests first large-scale crop of soybeans containing casein proteins
Alpine Bio—a molecular farming startup engineering plants to produce animal proteins in what it claims is a more sustainable and more efficient manner—has harvested its first large-scale crop of soybeans containing casein proteins in Nebraska.
“This is the culmination of seven years of R&D to get expression levels to a point where the science and the economics make sense,” says founder and CEO Magi Richani, a civil engineer who built a career at oil giant Shell in project management before setting up her own business.
Microbes can be engineered to produce casein protein via precision fermentation, she says. However, a molecular farming approach can be scaled at a fraction of the cost thanks to lower capex and operational costs and the ability to tap into existing infrastructure, claims Richani, who says most plant-based cheeses miss the mark because of how challenging it is to replicate the qualities of casein, which makes dairy cheese melt and stretch.
While Alpine Bio had planned to launch its own consumer brand (Nobell Foods) to showcase its tech, she says, “We are now focusing more on a b2b model because from a capital efficiency perspective, that makes the most sense. However, we built a great brand with Nobell, so we might partner with someone to launch that brand, but we wouldn’t be the only ones investing.”