TED Talks Daily - Collagen's dirty secret — and its clean future | Fei Luo

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

From cosmetics to nutrition, collagen is seemingly everywhere — but we don't often discuss its ethically questionable sources, says chemical engineer Fei Luo. She delves into the groundbreaking technology that uses genetically modified yeast to brew animal-free collagen, a process that could pave the way for a functional, tasty and harm-free future for this crucial protein. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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I'm your host, Elise Hugh. What do you think when you hear collagen? It is the most abundant protein in our bodies. And even though it's advertised as a key ingredient to youthful-looking skin, which is why I always hear about it, we need it far more than just for our outsides. In her 2024 talk, collagen chemist Fei Luo asks us to reconsider the source of the collagen we all need and offers a more ethical and sustainable way to get it. That's coming up. Last month, 40 people in Los Angeles tasted a rich and hearty bone broth.

It was a special broth, one that involved no slaughter of any animals. The secret ingredient was collagen, brewed like a beer using a special yeast, and entire animal-free. Do you consume collagen in your daily life? Well, collagen is the most abundant protein in our body. Any animal's body accounts for 30 percent of our total proteins. So if you're not a vegetarian, chances are you're already consuming collagen.

Or even if you think you don't consume any animal product, but not super careful in checking the labels, collagen may still sneak in as a capsule in your medicine or fillers in your facial cream. Today, let's talk about food. Imagine biting into a perfectly marbled steak. That intricate balance of muscle and fat owes the structure to collagen.

Collagen is nature's scaffold, holding everything together in a seamless harmony of nutrition and texture. Without it, we'll be left with mere mince fat and muscle. Doesn't seem as appealing, is it? In fact, an average piece of meat we eat contains anywhere between 0.5 to 3 percent of collagen. And collectively, we consume at least a million metric tons of collagen

every year through meat. consume at least a million metric tons of collagen every year through meat. Collagen's influence extends far beyond the dinner table. Behind the scene, an entire industry extracts collagen from animal carcasses to produce a myriad of ingredients for food, nutrition and more. To get all that collagen, animal carcasses are boiled in strong acid to yield gelatin,

a magic substance behind the squishiness of gummies that we love and the velvety texture of jello. The industry then further processing gelatin into smaller pieces to make collagen hydrolysis. Millions of health-conscious consumers stir this ingredient in their morning coffees or daily smoothie in order to achieve supple skin, strong bones or other wellness goals. Because collagen is so versatile in food,

a food industry without it is certainly not the same. Looking at alternative protein ingredients products in the market we can buy today, meat and seafood amulets are largely in minced form, lacking whole-cut options. Vegan gummies are lacking the squishiness texture in others' attractive mainstream snackers. And for millions of consumers,

stir collagen powder in their drinks every day. There's no comparable alternatives, so they will be consuming collagen diligently, one that is from the livestock industry. Looking into the future, it is clear that we need to find the irreplaceable functionality of collagen. The challenge lies in finding effective, ethical and affordable solutions. This is where I come in.

Three years ago, I founded a company called Lyvan, aimed to produce the next generation of collagen without animals. How do we do it? We produce a special yeast by changing its genetics, providing instructions on how to collagen, just like animals. We feed these yeasts with sugar or glycerol in bowel reactors, such like big vats in beer brewing. And we harvest collagen from the fermentation broth

for different kinds of applications. Well, I did not start out as a collagen brewer. I'm actually a chemical engineer with my previous profession, growing microorganisms to eat up toxic chemicals in soil and groundwater. My journey in food started with a simple quest of looking for clean, nutritious and delicious diet for my family. I walked through every single aisle in a grocery store,

just looking for plant-based proteins that will not fail my family's taste buds, especially my meat-eater's husband and my three-year-old. And also, I was looking for something that does not come with a laundry list of mysterious ingredients that have no idea what they are. Thanks for the parental policy in Canada, I got a one-year off work when my daughter was born. Always believing microbes can save the world, I decided to use this break to try to create ingredients

that will enable better foods for my daughter's generation, using microbes as a manufacturing. And collagen quickly emerged as our focus, because we could see how to grow it easily, and it was also held with health benefits and food functionalities. Now, don't get me wrong. It is not an easy journey, but we have been making strides.

We have been collaborating with colleges and universities to produce collagen in order to do early formulation testing to understand its value for alternative proteins before raising millions of dollars. As you may have guessed, our applications start with bone broth. But if we can make this work,

we will be able to scale up to meet the college demand without raising more cattle by clearing out the Amazon rainforest and sacrificing these animals to source these important ingredients. If it works, the supermarket in five to 10 years will be completely transformed. There, you will see slaughter-free steaks, adorned with perfect marbling, meticulously arranged around collagen fibers.

Bone broth, beacon with their richness and offering velvety texture thanks to the abundance of gelatin. And there are snacks, proudly showcasing the health benefits of collagen peptides meticulously engineered to make the signature of our own body. Gone are the days of questioning what comes from animals and what doesn't. In this future, every bite you take

is not only delectable, healthy, but also sustainable and ethical in this production. Thank you. (*applause*) That was Fei Luo at TED's Countdown Dilemma Series on the Future of Food in 2024. If you're curious about Ted's curation, find out more at Ted.com slash curation guidelines. And that's it for today's show. Ted Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estifanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian

Green, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar, and Tonsika Sarmarnivon. It was mixed by Christopher Fazy-Bogan, additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Balarezo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening. This winter, we're loving the new Starbucks handcrafted menu. Starbucks is the ultimate winter survival companion for Canadians. With handcrafted espresso beverages like the new Cortado and brown sugar oat Cortado, those freezing temperatures suddenly don't feel so bad. If you're looking to elevate your winter routine and add some intentional moments of pause,

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