Difference between revisions of "Real Vegan Cheese"

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The goal of this project is to make real vegan cheese by engineering normal baker's yeast (S. cerevisiae) to express milk protein (casein), purifying the protein, creating a milk-substitute by blending in vegan replacements for lactose and milkfat, and finally turning the resulting milk-substitute into semi-hard cheese like gouda using the normal cheese-making process. Watch a [https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/real-vegan-cheese/ brief video about the project].
The goal of this project is to make real vegan cheese by engineering normal baker's yeast (S. cerevisiae) to express milk protein (casein), purifying the protein, creating a milk-substitute by blending in vegan replacements for lactose and milkfat, and finally turning the resulting milk-substitute into semi-hard cheese like gouda using the normal cheese-making process.  
* Watch a [https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/real-vegan-cheese/ brief video about the project].
* Check out our website at [https://www.realvegancheese.org/ realvegancheese.org].
* Read our [https://www.realvegancheese.org/news Blog Posts] about this project.


The main challenges include:
The main challenges include:


* Biology
* Biology
** Getting the major casein-proteins secreted.
** Find all the nitty-gritty on how we engineer our host organism to produce cheese proteins in our pages on [[molecular biology]], [[cloning strategy]], [[gBlock design]], [[plasmid design]], [[Yeast Transformation]].
** Getting the major [[Molecular_biology#Proteins|casein proteins]] expressed, and ideally secreted.
** Achieving a high level of expression.
** Achieving a high level of expression.
** Ensuring the required post-translational modifications take place.
** Ensuring any necessary [[Molecular_biology#Post-translational_modification|post-translational modifications]] take place.
** Cost-efficient protein purification.
** Cost-efficient [[protein purification]].
** Stable micelle-formation.
** [[Molecular_biology#Role_of_phosphorylation_and_glycosylation_in_micelle_formation_or_coagulation |Stable micelle-formation.]]
** Finding a suitable milk-fat replacement.
** Finding suitable [[alternative fats]].
** Finding a suitable lactose replacement
** Finding suitable [[alternative sugars]].
** Can we achieve the same flavor and aroma profile using the traditional cheese ripening [[bacterial cultures]]?


* Ethical and environmental impact studies
* [[Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications]]
** A comparison between yeast bioreactors and dairy cows will be essential
** Can we produce this cheese in a way that is (a) better for the environment, and (b) economically feasible? Check our page on [[Life Cycle Assessments and Techno-Economic Analyses]]


* Safety
* Safety
** Ensuring a safe and responsible research environment is already a key goal of CCL and BioC, but we will have to field potential safety concerns specifically related to the Real Vegan Cheese project.
** Ensuring a safe and responsible research environment is already a key goal of CCL and BioC, but we will have to field potential safety concerns specifically related to the Real Vegan Cheese project.
** Check out the [https://www.genspace.org/community-biology-biosafety-handbook Community Biology Safety Handbook], edited with help from some of our members.


* Funding and spreading the word
* Funding and spreading the word
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* Education
* Education
** Providing hands-on lab training.
** Providing hands-on lab training.
** Check out our [[Educational Videos]] about many parts of the process!


= Getting involved =
= Getting involved =
[https://www.realvegancheese.org/news/so-you-want-to-join-the-real-vegan-cheese-project-orientation-for-new-folks '''So, you want to join the Real Vegan Cheese project? - Orientation for new folks'''] - September 2022 blog post.


Here are some different ways to get involved:
Here are some different ways to get involved:
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*[https://realvegancheese.org/contribute/ Help fund the project]
*[https://realvegancheese.org/contribute/ Help fund the project]
*Send us an email at info@counterculturelabs.org
*Send us an email at info@counterculturelabs.org
*[https://www.realvegancheese.org/news/so-you-want-to-join-the-real-vegan-cheese-project-orientation-for-new-folks So, you want to join the Real Vegan Cheese project? - 2022 Orientation for new folks]
*Add to this wiki.
*Add to this wiki.


= Project topics =
= More links to incorporate =
*[[Science]]
*[[Science]]
**[[Molecular biology]]
**[[Microbiology]]
**[[Microbiology]]
**[[Cloning strategy]]
**[[gBlock design]]
**[[Yeast Transformation]]
**[[Protein Expression in Yeast]]
**[[Protein Expression in Yeast]]
**[[Plasmid design]]
*[[Bureaucracy]]
**[[Bacterial cultures]]
**[[Educational Videos]]
*[[Narwhal]]
*[[Experiments started January 2016]]
*[[Shared Laboratory Notebook]]
*[[How to take notes and record data]]
*[[Questions and answers]]
*[[Cheese making]]
*[[Cheese making]]
*[[Existing vegan cheeses]]
*[[Existing vegan cheeses]]
*[[Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications]]
*[[Experiments started January 2016]]
*[[Health effects and cancer link]]
*[[Product viability]]
*[[Budget, planning and orders]]
*[[Wetware inventory]]
*[[Software]]
*[[External communications]]
*[[External communications]]
*[[Service and reagent providers]] - Sequencing, synthesis, enzymes, etc.
*[[Bureaucracy]]
*[[Video]] - Video and audio documentation, teleconferencing and live-streaming
*[[Finances]] - Incoming monies, purchases, etc.
*[[Finances]] - Incoming monies, purchases, etc.
*[[Health effects: allergy and cancer link]]
*[[How to take notes and record data]]
*[[Media]] - Articles written about us
*[[Media]] - Articles written about us
*[[Product viability]]
*[[Narwhal Cheese]]!
*[[Questions and answers]]
*[[Service and reagent providers]] - Sequencing, synthesis, enzymes, etc.
*[[Shared Laboratory Notebook]]
*[[Similar projects]] - Other people doing similar stuff
*[[Similar projects]] - Other people doing similar stuff
*[[Software]]
*[[Video]] - Video and audio documentation, teleconferencing and live-streaming

Latest revision as of 02:48, 18 July 2023

The goal of this project is to make real vegan cheese by engineering normal baker's yeast (S. cerevisiae) to express milk protein (casein), purifying the protein, creating a milk-substitute by blending in vegan replacements for lactose and milkfat, and finally turning the resulting milk-substitute into semi-hard cheese like gouda using the normal cheese-making process.

The main challenges include:

  • Safety
    • Ensuring a safe and responsible research environment is already a key goal of CCL and BioC, but we will have to field potential safety concerns specifically related to the Real Vegan Cheese project.
    • Check out the Community Biology Safety Handbook, edited with help from some of our members.
  • Funding and spreading the word
    • We have raised about $37,000 on indiegogo and the funding we raised is being used on developing the feasibility of producing Real Vegan Cheese from baker's yeast.
  • Patents
    • We plan to patent and abandon to keep this technology free for everyone
  • Education
    • Providing hands-on lab training.
    • Check out our Educational Videos about many parts of the process!

Getting involved

So, you want to join the Real Vegan Cheese project? - Orientation for new folks - September 2022 blog post.

Here are some different ways to get involved:

More links to incorporate

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