Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2023 - 49

SPINOFF
F
irst, a particular type of microbe
evolved in an acidic hot spring.
Fast-forward millions of years, when a
geomicrobiologist finds this type of microbe
in Yellowstone National Park while
conducting NASA-funded research on
organisms that thrive under extreme
conditions.
Now you can buy a protein grown
from the organism in grocery stores in
the form of vegan breakfast patties and
cream cheese. It's also growing in space,
where astronauts are studying it as a possible
protein source for long-duration
missions. And it's informing a project to
introduce sustainable fungal proteins to
low- and moderate-income communities
around the world.
Mark Kozubal, the researcher who collected
and named Fusarium strain flavolapis,
went on to co-found Nature's
Fynd, a Chicago-based company that
produces the fungal protein in an area
of the city once known for meat processFound
in an acidic hot spring, the microbe at
the heart of Nature's Fynd's meatless protein
prefers a low-pH environment that repels
most common bacteria and insects, so pesticides
are unnecessary in the fermentation
process. (Image: Nature's Fynd)
ing. The company has since raised more
than half a billion dollars from investors.
Producing
this complete
protein,
which Nature's Fynd has trademarked as
Fy, requires far less water and land than
beef, according to the company.
Nature's Fynd grows its trademarked meat alternative
Fy in trays through a specialized fermentation
process. The result is a complete
protein with a texture something like chicken.
(Image: Nature's Fynd)
" We have this big, complex problem
about how we feed everybody, and some
of the answers are out there and we just
need to use science to figure it out, " said
Nature's Fynd CEO and other Co-Founder,
Thomas Jonas.
" That's really what we decided to go
after, " he said, " so we progressively increased
the efficiency of the technology,
we enabled better transformation and
better yield of protein, and that's what
got us here. "
If life exists on other planets or moons,
it's not likely to look like life on Earth.
Mars, for example, may have hosted life
in the past, but anything living there today
would have to survive conditions that are
considerably drier, colder, and saltier than
our environment. NASA also wants to look
for life on Jupiter's moon Europa, where it
would need to exist deep under ice.
" In order to understand what life is capable
of doing, we look to extreme environments
to see what adaptations life
has evolved, " said Lindsay Hays, Deputy
Program Scientist in NASA's astrobiology
program, explaining the agency's support
of research in places like YellowAstronaut
Jessica Watkins holds a Nature's Fynd bioreactor on the International Space Station.
The device successfully produced Fy protein in microgravity, making it a possible food source for
long missions. (Image: NASA)
Tech Briefs, October 2023
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stone National Park.
" Yellowstone is a truly unique place, "
she said, describing a deep volcanic environment
percolating through ancient
and modern cracks and seeps.
49
Spinoff is NASA's annual publication featuring
successfully commercialized NASA technology. This
commercialization has contributed to the development
of products and services in the fields of health and
medicine, consumer goods, transportation, public safety,
computer technology, and environmental resources.
Sustainable Protein as a Food Source on Earth and in Space
An organism found in the Yellowstone National Park is being studied as a possible protein
source for long-duration missions and informing a project to introduce sustainable fungal
proteins to low- and moderate-income communities around the world.

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Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2023

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