'Perfect Day,' a technology startup based in Silicon Valley, recently debuted a line of vegan ice cream that’s DNA is identical to dairy. The company was founded by vegan biomedical engineers Ryan Pandya and Perumal Gandhi, who were looking for cruelty-free, "next-level vegan dairy products" that would be indistinguishable from cow-based dairy products.
The product is not derived from a cow, is lactose-free, and made synthetically using whey and casein -- the primary proteins responsible for the texture of milk. Perfect Day "print[s] a cow’s DNA sequence as a blueprint that is inserted into yeast-based microflora—tiny living organisms used to make everyday items such as vitamins and probiotics." The procedure uses flora, rather than an actual cow, to ferment the product to create a vegan dairy product.
This is then used in creating Perfect Day's three vegan ice cream flavors: Vanilla Salted Fudge, Milky Chocolate, and Vanilla Blackberry Toffee. The bundle is available online for $60 USD.
What's Driving This Trend
- Animal-free Dairy Products
- Using DNA sequence as a blueprint to create vegan dairy products similar to cow-based products.
- Synthetic Protein Production
- Creating synthetic proteins through flora fermentation for vegan products could revolutionize the food industry.
- Mimicry Methods
- Using mimicry methods to create vegan versions of animal-based products could lead to a huge market for plant-based alternatives.
Who This Affects Most
- Food Technology
- The food industry should invest in synthetic protein production methods to create animal-free alternatives and appeal to a growing number of health-conscious consumers.
- Vegan Food Products
- Vegan companies can create more plant-based versions of animal-based products using mimicry methods, such as Perfect Day's DNA sequence blueprint, to cater to the demand for cruelty-free products.
- Biotech
- Biotech companies can expand their research on flora fermentation to develop more synthetic protein-based products with great potential for the food industry.
