A deep understanding of alternative proteins

Climate change, ecological collapse, and the increasing demand for animal protein have led to the urgent need for new alternative proteins.

In this course, we will start reflecting what are the social and environmental implications of meat consumption and how its way of production is related to the centralisation of power, which leads to highly linear and wasteful system structures. 

In the second part of the course, we will try to clarify what we mean by “alternative”, and we will go through the different methods to produce alternative proteins: plant based proteins, precision fermentation, cultured meat, and insects. We will deep dive in how mycelium and fungi can be sources of alternative proteins, and how their unique biochemistry makes them suitable as a meat alternative. We will also talk about the role of microbes and fermentations in the production of these alternatives. 

In the last part of the course, we will talk about New Foods derived from new technologies and we will finish the course evaluating the limitations and implications of these meat alternatives. 

Therefore, this course will cover the current issues regarding meat consumption and centralisation of power, the main pillars of alternative proteins from a scientific and cultural perspective, including their pros and cons, and lastly it will include a discussion of the New Foods as overly technological solutions.