SXSW: Can microbes feed the world?

As humans, we produce way more food than we need, and yet malnutrition contributes to the death of 45% of all children under the age of 6. What should we be doing differently? Elliot Roth, CEO of Spira, and Prateek Garg, co-founder of Unibiome, believe that microbes may hold the solution for feeding the world in a sustainable, healthy way. In their session “Infinite Food with Microbes,” presented at SXSW on March 12, Roth and Garg posit that by using synthetic biology we can enhance food to increase nutrition and satisfy hunger for the growing global population. According to Garg, there are two ways to make more nutritious food: increase the yield or increase the intrinsic quality of food. “Even if I produce an infinite amount of rice, it’s never going to prevent malnutrition,” explained Garg. “We need to improve the intrinsic quality of rice.” And both Garg and Roth believe that microbes are the key to doing just that.

Microbes are tiny exponential biofactories that can be made to produce practically any delicacy in the world, explained the speakers. Roth’s company, Spira, sells starter kits that enable individuals and communities to grow, harvest, and eat spirulina—a nutrient-dense microalgae. He believes that microbial farming can empower communities in developing countries to produce their own nutritious food quickly and with very little effort.

Garg’s research centers on microbes’ role in fermentation. “Fermentation is the longest-standing form of biotechnology we’ve had,” explained Garg. It is the common denominator among the world’s cultures and cuisines. Garg believes that by modifying the microbes responsible for fermentation we can generate a potentially unlimited source of nutrition. Through genetic engineering, it would be possible, for example, to take the microbes that are responsible for producing the vitamin B12 present in Swiss cheese and transfer that to a soy yogurt. The result is a vegan yogurt that now contains B12, which is currently only available from animal products (milk or meat). Another benefit of this approach, said Garg, is that it allows you to “modify the food without modifying the food,” meaning that taste and texture aren’t altered by the process.

Both Garg and Roth see the potential to use microbes as a cornerstone to produce more nutritious food, and believe in empowering people to bring it to their communities. “The problem with genetic engineering has never been the science or the safety,” concluded Garg. “It has always been the business or economic model.” He encouraged the session attendees to take part in the online conversation and help to “give GE back to the people.”

Next week, we will delve into the food tech revolution to see how tech start-ups are solving food industry problems.