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In Asia, alternative proteins are the new clean energy

As climate and food-security pressures intensify, the world’s most populous continent sees clear opportunities to reimagine meat — just as it did for affordable solar panels.
By
  1. Ryan Huling

    1. Ryan Huling is a senior writer at the Good Food Institute Asia Pacific, based in Los Angeles, California, USA.

  2. Doris Lee

    1. Doris Lee is chief executive of GFI Consultancy, based in Beijing, China.

  3. Wasamon Nutakul

    1. Wasamon Nutakul is a science and technology manager at the Good Food Institute Asia Pacific, based in Bangkok, Thailand.

  4. Samuel Goh

    1. Samuel Goh is a policy manager at the Good Food Institute Asia Pacific, based in Singapore.

Jackfruit based dishes on a table with people eating the food.

Eating more plant-based foods and cultivated meat products could have large environmental benefits. Credit: KARANA

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In August, bioengineers, chemists, plant biologists and food scientists based in China and Singapore came together in a closed hybrid conference with one ambitious goal: to unlock the massive economic and food-security promise of plant-based and cultivated meat. As biochemist Huang Dejian at the National University of Singapore highlighted at the start, Asian scientists are poised to play a crucial part. Just as researchers in the region were instrumental in putting the world on a path to affordable clean energy, they can do so again — for sustainable foods.

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Nature 633, 767-769 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-03077-y

References

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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