Innovation for the Sake of the Planet

Over the last few decades, most of you have probably heard of the terms “GMO’s”, “genetic engineering”, “gene modification”, etc. But what do these terms really mean?

At the most basic level, genetic engineering refers to the process of altering the DNA of a living organism to change its behavior. Humans have been performing genetic engineering in some form or the other for centuries, whether it be cross-pollination of fruit or vegetable plants to create novel varieties (pluots anyone?), grafting of different rose cultivars, or production of human insulin using a non-animal host. In every instance, certain alterations have been made to the genetic code of a living cell to achieve a new function. In some cases, these alterations to the genetic code are achieved via a scattershot approach, where a farmer or a scientist randomly introduces multiple changes to the DNA, and selects the best candidate based on achieving the desired outcome (for example, a redder tomato, a tastier pluot, or a yeast that gives a better tasting beer). In other cases, these alterations to the genetic code are very precise, targeted changes, with the goal of achieving a specific outcome (for example, developing a papaya resistant to fungus, or a yeast that can make a protein originally found in soy). The latter approach results in what we refer to today as “Genetically Modified Organisms” or “GMOs.”

For the sake of simplicity, we will categorize GMOs into two buckets based on how they are used. In the first bucket are GMOs that are directly consumed by humans or animals. Food grains, fruits, and vegetables fall into this category. In the second bucket are GMOs that are used to manufacture a product that is used by a consumer, but where the consumer doesn’t interact with the GMO directly. Insulin or other pharmaceuticals made using GMOs fit into this category. Various enzymes, chemicals, and ingredients used by consumers on a daily basis in a variety of applications including food, cosmetics, and laundry detergents also fit into this category. There are of course other applications of genetic engineering, including GMOs used for parasite control (for example: disease carrying mosquitoes) and gene therapies for treating debilitating human conditions, but here we’ll focus on those most relevant to consumer packaged goods. There have been multiple controversies with regards to GMO foods, with questions being raised about their safety, efficacy, and impact on the planet. It’s important to acknowledge that these are important questions that need to be addressed – and we do, in fact, have answers. In the case of safety, every GMO used as a food product, as well as ingredients made using a GMO, undergo rigorous safety assessment and adhere to strict regulatory requirements before they are allowed for human consumption. The underlying safety data is reviewed by experts in the regulatory agencies, whether it be the FDA, USDA, or EPA, among others. In other words, GMO-based products have to undergo more rigorous testing than their non-GMO counterparts, even if the final products are indistinguishable from each other. There is broad scientific consensus that GMOs are safe for consumers and the environment — a view now followed by the American Medical Association, the National Academy of Sciences and the World Health Organization.

When it comes to efficacy and impact on the planet, GMOs often offer a far more efficient production method than traditional manufacturing methods. For example, natural sweeteners like stevia are widely considered to be a safe sugar substitute for diabetics. There are three sources for producing RebM, the active ingredient in Stevia, and research shows that fermentation derived RebM using a GM yeast is more efficient and sustainable than its counterparts (ref, ref)). In a similar vein, the cheese industry relies on rennet, a mixture of enzymes extracted from the calf stomach, to convert milk into cheese. However, due to limited availability of calf-derived rennet, cost, and the desire to make cheese more suitable to vegetarians, cheese manufacturers since the 1990s have been using rennet produced by GMOs. In fact, a majority of the tastiest hard cheeses produced in the world, and safely consumed by hundreds of millions of people, uses a GMO-derived rennet (ref, ref). GMOs also allow us to access important ingredients that otherwise would not be accessible for consumers across the globe. For example, human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) in breast milk have widely been postulated to be critical for infant nutrition and development. Introducing these ingredients in infant formulas will give families more choices to suit their individual circumstances without sacrificing infant nutrition. The only way to produce these valuable ingredients cost-effectively is via fermentation using GMOs (ref, ref).

Finally, GMO’s offer solutions to our farmers where the alternative would be a complete loss of their livelihood. For example, the entire Hawaiian papaya crop started getting infected with the papaya ringspot virus, and by the 1990’s, more than 50% of the crop was wiped out. Scientists were able to develop a GMO “Rainbow papaya” that was resistant to the virus. There was extensive research done to show the safety and efficacy of the Rainbow papaya to humans and the environment, and despite misguided attempts to prevent its use, today Rainbow papayas account for more than 90% of the papaya crop grown in Hawaii, saving generational papaya farmers from going out of business.

Despite their widespread adoption in our marketplace, why does this fear of GMOs continue to persist? I speculate it’s because of poor communication and outreach by the scientific community to explain to the consumer the safety and benefits of GMOs in their daily lives. In the absence of this communication and outreach, the void is filled by fear-mongering technology antagonists who knowingly or unknowingly spread false narratives about GMOs, or by entertainment studios which loosely wrap scientific theory with fantastical storylines to depict unrealistic doomsday scenarios (which admittedly, are extremely entertaining). Consumers are smart enough to consider the facts on their own, but to date we have not succeeded in providing consumers with a clear view of the facts. That’s why, as a scientist myself, I am taking this opportunity to get on my own soapbox and start a conversation with you, the consumer.

At Impossible Foods, we rely on two vital ingredients in our products, soy and heme, so let’s dive a little deeper into the impact that GMOs play in both these ingredients.

Today, 94% of the soy grown in the US is genetically engineered to resist herbicide toxicity. This helps US farmers control weeds without more toxic weed control agents or over-reliance on tillage, which drives soil carbon loss. And because a cow needs to eat about 30 pounds of corn and soy for every pound of beef they produce, far less herbicide is needed to make an Impossible Burger than a burger from a cow.

Most soy-derived products for direct human consumption — including soy milk, baby formula, protein supplements, soybean oil, fortified bread and more — are produced from both GM- and non-GMO soybeans, with no difference in safety or nutrition.

In fact, the American Association for the Advancement of Science vouched for the safety of genetically modified foods back in 2012: “The science is quite clear: crop improvement by the modern molecular techniques of biotechnology is safe. Consuming foods containing ingredients derived from GM crops is no riskier than consuming the same foods containing ingredients from crop plants modified by conventional plant improvement techniques.”

We sought the safest and most environmentally responsible option that would allow us to scale our production and provide Impossible Beef to consumers at a reasonable cost. And the unambiguous winner was American-grown,* milled and processed GM soy that meets high global standards for health, safety, and sustainability (ref).

During the course of our efforts to recreate the unique flavor, texture, and experience of eating meat, a key attribute that we identified to be present in animal meat, but absent in plant-based meat was hemoglobin or heme. But the question arose, how do we get heme without resorting to more animal farming? It turns out that heme is a ubiquitous protein found in most living cells to carry out critical cellular functions. Soy plants produce soy leghemoglobin in their root nodules, and in our initial days at Impossible Foods, we considered extracting the heme from soy root nodules directly. But we soon realized that growing enough soy to extract heme for Impossible meat products would require irresponsibly large amounts of land and water. We hence sought to understand how the soy plant makes heme in the first place.

All living cells on the planet produce a rich library of chemicals in order to live, grow, and thrive, and every living organism contains a unique set of instructions in their genetic code to produce these chemicals. Our scientists deciphered the instructions within the soy genetic code that enables it to produce heme, and transferred these instructions into yeast. Once the instructions have been incorporated into the yeast genetic code, the newly born GM yeast can now translate these new sets of instructions, and start producing heme using a process that humans have used to bake bread, make yogurt, and brew beer or wine, i.e. fermentation. It's important to note that the GM yeast is a living factory producing heme, but the heme itself isn’t genetically modified and is identical in all respects to the heme from the soy plant. Nevertheless, as per regulatory guidelines, Impossible Foods conducted exhaustive tests to prove that fermentation derived soy leghemoglobin was safe for human consumption, and received a no-questions letter from the FDA in 2018, concluding that soy leghemoglobin is 'generally recognized as safe' or GRAS.

The unfortunate reality is that the planet is at a crossroads, where it’s becoming harder to feed a growing population without having an outsized negative impact on the environment. The fortunate reality is that now we finally have at our disposal multiple technical solutions to solve this challenge. The responsible, transparent use of genetically modified organisms is one such technical solution among many others. At Impossible Foods, we will continue to explore and adopt all innovations that will enable us to meet our mission, which is to give consumers a choice of meat –– from plants –– that does not require compromising on their personal preferences in order to do better for the planet. They can have their meat and eat it too.

*99% of the soy in Impossible Beef is American sourced.