Biotechnology, Egg Proteins from Potatoes

While scientists around the world are scrambling to create expensive industrial bioreactors to produce alternative proteins, two Israeli researchers have looked underground to find their solution. Biotechnology in their hands (illustrated in this article on Science) has become a tool for transforming the most common of tubers, the potato, into a living egg protein factory.

Maya Sapir-Mir e Raya Liberman-Aloni They founded PoLoPo in 2022, and now their genetically modified potatoes are proving that agricultural fields can function as efficient protein production plants. The idea? Insert the DNA of theovalbumin into the leaves of the plant and let the natural nutrient transport system do the rest.

The potato as a natural bioreactor

I am fascinated by how these scientists have transformed an everyday element of our diet into a sophisticated tool of biotechnology. PoLoPo has engineered the potato by inserting the entire DNA sequence of ovalbumin (the main protein in egg white) into the leaves of the plant. This DNA contains the instructions for producing a functional protein which is chemically and nutritionally identical to that found in chicken eggs.

Il phloem, the plant's vascular system that transports nutrients from leaves to tubers, thus becomes an efficient molecular courier, transporting the engineered ovalbumin directly into the tubers. It is like reprogramming an existing factory to produce a completely different good, exploiting the infrastructure already present. Nature thus becomes an accomplice of biotechnological innovation.

For the scale up, we just need another potato field.

This sentence of Liberman-Aloni, PoLoPo’s chief technology officer, encapsulates the power of their approach. No expensive industrial fermenters, no complex infrastructure: just potatoes that grow in fields. Potatoes that carry egg proteins.

From super-potato to industrial ingredient

Ironically, PoLoPo's initial goal was much more ambitious: to create a "super-potato" capable of helping feed low- and middle-income countries. An almost noble project, but one that has come up against a reality of regulatory obstacles. Other transgenic products, such as a special rice with bovine cells, have experienced first-hand (often rightly, I might add, when it comes to safety) how difficult it is to navigate the sea of ​​international regulations.

So, pragmatically, the founders turned to the production of proteins as ingredients for the food industry. Ovalbumin, after all, is highly sought after by packaged food manufacturers for its ability to increase the nutritional value and extend the shelf life of products.

Biotechnology, the future is already in the fields

PoLoPo didn’t stop at ovalbumin. The company also developed potatoes with enhanced production of patatin, a protein naturally present in the tuber. The team genetically modified the potato genome to express genes that shift the plant’s metabolism toward producing and storing proteins in the tuber.

Now, with the financial backing of the German venture capital firm FoodLabs, the company is seeking approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the potato-rich potatoes. They would not, however, be the first genetically modified potatoes available for sale in the U.S. J.R. Simplot, based in Boise, Idaho, already sells genetically modified Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet and Atlantic potatoes, bred to resist bruises and late blight.

The truth is that biotechnology is quietly but surely transforming our relationship with food. And while we’re busy discussing lab-grown meat, these two brilliant Israeli scientists are quietly revolutionizing agriculture, turning potato fields into protein factories. And that’s just the beginning. Next time you eat French fries, remember that that tuber could one day produce much more than just carbohydrates.