Can microbes feed the world?

A campaign called “ReBoot Food” was launched at the COP27 climate change conference in Egypt, to ask world governments to support a technology called precision fermentation.

They claim it’s possible to produce enough food to feed the whole world in an area the size of London. The process uses genetically-engineered microbes to make cheap, high quality fats and proteins, virtually identical to those produced by animal farming.

Its proponents say it will free up huge tracts of farmland and could even help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A technology research group is even projecting the collapse of dairy and cattle industries by 2030 with animal meat being replaced by food grown using precision fermentation.

But what is it, what are the potential pitfalls, and can the public stomach the idea of protein grown in an a bioreactor rather than on a farm?

On this week’s Inquiry, we ask: can microbes feed the world?

Presented by Tanya Beckett Produced by Ravi Naik Researcher John Cossee Editor Tara McDermott Technical producer Mitch Goodall Broadcast Coordinator Brenda Brown

(the world in a petri dish /Getty Images)