Welcome to the age of fermentation

Advanced fermentation using microorganisms to make protein promises a paradigm shift to feed the growing global population, just as selective livestock breeding did in the 19th century and the Haber-Bosch process to make ammonia for fertilizer did in the early 20th century. Bacteria, fungi, and yeast already produce all the essential food groups that humans need, and the technology is advancing rapidly to make products more efficiently and at a substantially greater scale. Market research firm the Brainy Insights forecasts that sales of foods made in bioreactors will increase from $3.83 billion in 2025 to $22.8 billion in 2033. Potential benefits of the approach include a lower cost of food and lower carbon emissions, water consumption, agricultural waste, and land use. Freeing up farmland: Precision fermentation to make protein and synthetic meat directly from animal cells will cut cattle farming’s share of the market and will free up 80% of