December 10, 2025

 

Genetically modified fungus seen as key to making meat substitutes more environmentally friendly than chicken

 

Scientists in China have genetically modified a fungus commonly used in the production of meat substitutes to make it an even more environmentally friendly source of protein than chicken – one of the farmed animals that has the least impact on the environment.

 

The team used CRISPR-based gene editing to modify Fusarium venenatum, improving its production efficiency and reducing its environmental impact without introducing foreign DNA, according to a paper published in the peer-reviewed Trends in Biotechnology.

 

Mycoprotein, or "protein from fungus", has a texture and taste similar to meat but needs less land, produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and has a lower risk of water pollution than chicken and other animal proteins.

 

Alternatives to meat have been growing in popularity, with cell-cultured proteins – also known as lab-grown meat – attracting interest. However, there have been concerns that large-scale production may have a larger environmental impact than beef.

 

"It can be concluded that effective mycoprotein synthesis provides environmental advantages over animal protein and cultured meat," the team said in the paper, which was published on November 19.

 

"There is a general demand for higher quality and more sustainable edible protein," Liu Xiao, corresponding author and a researcher at Jiangnan University, told the Chinese Academy of Sciences-run news site China Science Daily on November 20.

 

"By modifying its genes, we have successfully made the fungus more nutritious, while also making the production process more environmentally friendly," he said.

 

Compared to the unmodified F. venenatum, the engineered strain consumed around 44% fewer nutrients while producing mycoprotein 88% faster – offering up to 61% less global warming potential.

 

The modified product would require 70% less land than the amount used for the country's chicken production, while reducing the risk of freshwater pollution by 78%, the China Science Daily noted.

 

Animal farming occupies around 40% of agricultural land worldwide, uses large amounts of freshwater and contributes to around 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the researchers.

 

"This environmental burden, coupled with growing food security concerns, has accelerated exploration of alternative protein," they said. Unlike plant, microbial, and insect alternatives, cell-cultured proteins are composed of the same cells as animal meat.

 

However, a 2024 study by researchers from the University of California, Davis found that, based on current methods, large-scale production of lab-grown meats may have a larger environmental impact than beef.

 

Mycoproteins from F. venenatum have shown "particular promise" as an alternative protein and have already secured regulatory approval for human consumption in the United States, Europe, and Australia, according to the new Chinese paper.

 

Mycoprotein is already a commercially available product, with British brand Quorn selling products like faux chicken nuggets and meat-like mince to mainly European and North American markets.

 

The production method involves using a culture medium of nutrients like sugars and ammonium sulphate to ferment the fungus inside giant bioreactors – a process that can be resource-intensive, with low nutrient to mycoprotein conversion rates.

 

The team used CRISPR/Cas9 tools to edit metabolic pathways in the fungus, leading to more protein from within the cell to be digested, improving nutrient quality, and reducing the nutrient input required to produce the mycoprotein.

 

The researchers compared six countries with different energy mixes and estimated that a switch to the engineered strain could reduce environmental impacts, including global warming potential, from between 4% and 61.3%. It could also save more than 40% of the sugar substrate currently needed to make the product, according to the paper.

 

The team also analysed the effects on the environment of the engineered strain when compared with chicken – a farmed animal known to have one of the lowest environmental impacts.

 

The gene-edited meat substitute promised lower greenhouse gas emissions and stratospheric ozone depletion, as well as less land use and lowered potential for soil and freshwater contamination.

 

"These findings establish CRISPR/Cas technology and metabolic engineering as the dual-purpose tool for both nutritional enhancement and environmental impact mitigation in alternative protein production," the team said.

 

- South China Morning Post