CRISPR fungus: Protein-packed, sustainable, and tastes like meat

Environmental impact & economics vs chicken

• Some see gene-edited fungal protein as clearly greener than industrial chicken and cell-cultured meat, and hope economics will follow.
• Others argue backyard chickens on scraps and bugs can be extremely low-impact, but multiple replies stress this is negligible at global scale; most chicken is from huge intensive operations.
• Back-of-envelope estimates show that matching US per-capita chicken consumption would require substantial backyard flocks, feed inputs, and regulatory overhead; disease risk might increase with “every yard has chickens.”
• Industrial chicken’s extremely low cost is tied to specialized breeds (e.g., Cornish cross), rapid growth (6–7 weeks), cheap feed, and scale; home production tends to only break even vs premium organic, never vs discount supermarket chicken.

Technology, biology, and safety

• The edited fungus is the same species used in Quorn. CRISPR is used for gene knockouts (e.g., chitin synthase) rather than adding foreign genes, leading some to note it might be treated more leniently than classic GMOs in the EU.
• Thinner cell walls and lower chitin may improve digestibility. Replacing poultry with fungal protein could reduce avian flu risk and antibiotic use, and outbreaks in bioreactors are easier to control than in live animals.
• A key technical constraint: single-cell protein tends to have high nucleic acid content, which can cause excess uric acid. Heat treatments to reduce this can damage cells and cut yields (~35% reported), though waste streams might be repurposed as fertilizer.
• Discussion links this to gout, genetics, and the broken human urate oxidase pathway; some wonder why such species-level defects aren’t more aggressively targeted by medicine.

Climate, livestock, and AI datacenters

• A subthread contrasts emissions from livestock vs data centers. Cited figures: livestock at ~10–20% of global GHGs vs data centers at <0.3%, suggesting small cuts in meat out-emissions large cuts in compute.
• Others push back on framing, arguing both should be scrutinized; some see “AI vs cows” as a distraction from industrial agriculture’s outsized footprint (deforestation, animal welfare).

Health, “ultra-processed,” and diet

• Several worry that fungal meat analogs will be lumped into “ultra-processed foods.” Some argue that category meaningfully tracks worse health outcomes; others say it’s mostly correlation and confounds, and that processing per se isn’t inherently bad.
• There’s debate over whether the UPF narrative is being weaponized (possibly by incumbents) against novel, engineered protein sources.

Taste, culture, and acceptance

• Some vegetarians say they no longer desire meat and prefer good vegetable-based cuisines; others, even long-term vegetarians, still crave burgers or wings and welcome convincing substitutes.
• It’s noted that for most buyers, familiar frames like “chicken nuggets” matter more than novel foods, and that much “meat flavor” is actually sauce and seasoning.
• There is curiosity about inventing entirely new, delicious flavor/texture experiences, but replies point out constraints: taste receptors are fixed; most novelty comes from aroma chemistry, texture, and cultural conditioning.

Ethics, politics, and IP

• A few see advances like this as removing any remaining “excuse” to kill animals; others argue most people simply don’t share that moral view.
• Some speculate farm lobbies will try to restrict such products once they threaten poultry; others note farmers might welcome selling feedstock to stable, biosecure fermentation operations.
• Concerns are raised about licensing and patents: chickens don’t carry CRISPR license fees, while GMO seeds already do; gene-edited animals might eventually be similarly locked up.

Skepticism and alternatives

• One commenter suspects this is partly investor hype built on a previously underwhelming product class (fungal meat substitutes), but others point out that brands like Quorn are already widely sold.
• Alternative protein ideas like “air protein” (gas-fed microbes) and mushroom foraging are mentioned as parallel or complementary approaches.