HEBREW UNIVERSITY SCIENTISTS GROW DAIRY PROTEIN IN PLANTS

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have demonstrated that plants can manufacture β-casein, one of the major proteins found in cow's milk. The study, published in Frontiers in Plant Science, revealed that the protein accumulated in an entirely unexpected location inside plant cells, indicating a previously unknown biological pathway. Prof. Oded Shoseyov led the research alongside Almog Ozeri, Mai Shamir, Miron Abramson, Barak Cohen and Amir Rudich, in collaboration with Miruku, a New Zealand-based company. The discovery could help overcome technical challenges in producing authentic dairy proteins without livestock.

The researchers engineered Arabidopsis seeds to produce bovine β-casein fused to oleosin, a plant oil-body protein. They tested several cellular locations within plant cells to determine where the protein would accumulate most efficiently. As global demand for dairy grows, concerns have mounted over greenhouse gas emissions, land use and water consumption associated with livestock farming. Plant molecular farming, which uses crops as miniature protein factories, has emerged as a promising approach to address these pressures.

The findings could pave the way for more sustainable dairy ingredients and alternative food production methods. Scientists have been searching for sustainable ways to produce authentic dairy proteins without relying on animals, and this discovery represents a significant step toward that goal. The research demonstrates that plant-based production of complex milk proteins is technically feasible, though scaling the approach to commercial production remains to be addressed. Further development of this technology could reduce the environmental impact of dairy farming.