Submitted 16 hours ago by Daryl76679@lemmy.ml to [deleted]
https://phys.org/news/2025-07-real-proteins-cows-bacteria-pave.html
I keep saying for a while that Precision Fermentation is the future. Because if it isn't, that probably means there isn't one.
Using the lowest trophic level possible to grow our sustenance directly is the only way to ensure the least destruction possible. Which ensures the most environmental and ethical efficacy. As there should never be anything to distinguish between them in the first place.
i for one plan to directly conjure cheese from the ether
No mention of lactose.
Plant based, lactose free milk and cheese would be amazing.
No idea why they’d intentionally add lactose, so I assume it would just be naturally lactose free.
I’m not looking for a cheese alternative. I want the exact same cheese as it is now, just without the need for a a cow. So it better have lactose.
Lactose plays a role in cheese making as it is fermented by bacteria.
You can replace it with other cultures. Anything that can convert a sugar into lactic acid and you could use a milk that lacked lactose to make normal cheese. Or you can make a cheese with out the lactic acid. It will just taste a bit different.
Casein is the primary protein in milk, and it has a ton of uses. Humans have been consuming animal milks for a very long time, and milk is a key ingredient in a lot of food. Baking, emulsifying, cooking, fermenting, it’s the casein that makes the milk magic.
Some people can be allergic to casein, but far more lack the digestive enzyme to break down lactose. Lactose is what the yeast and bacteria ferment with in cheese and yogurt, but casein is the protein that holds it all together. Conceivably, you could use a different sugar and still get something that sort of resembles cheese and yogurt, but you have a much harder time replacing the casein.
A local friend has the casein allergy. It sucks, cause there’s a lot of baked goods and food in general she can’t have. I struggle sometimes in baking becaus even butter contains it, and plant butters never quite perfectly match with real butter.
At least plant-based heavy cream works well enough. Lacks the dairy taste but it still works and whips nicely even in a cream whipper.
When this becomes cheap; cows go extinct.
Did you forget about beef?
Similar progress will happen in other products when they see the market
I’m just used to going without dairy at this point, but it would be great to have an alternative available.
![Class: “What ‘safe’ to consume species are you going to bioengineer that won’t plague humanity?” European bioengineers: “Escherichia coli” Springfield Cemetery on last panel.] (i.imgflip.com/a0uck7.jpg)
Milk totally equals just casein. Nothing more.
Etterra@discuss.online 2 hours ago
Probably won’t help people with an allergy, rather than lactose intolerance or a lifestyle preference.