Gelatine from yeast, new method

The Dutch Institute for Agrotechnological Research (ATO) claims to have formulated an alternative to sourcing gelatine from animal bones and hair. How? From a yeast that produces gelatine on request.

According to the company, it has succeeded in making a yeast that produces large quantities of gelatine suitable for industrial applications.

ATO​ maintains that since the gelatinecan be adjusted to the needs of each user, it can be used in a large area of applications, varying from new medical products, like artificial bones, to smart coatings.

Traditional gelatine means that the living bone or skin cells are capable of (chemically) changing the gelatineprecursor in a special way, and so the extracted gelatine is capable of forming a gel (forexample, a pudding).

In a statement this week, ATO remarks that the production of correctly gel-forming gelatine in yeast cells or other non-animal cells was up until now difficult, because those cells could not produce gelatine on a large scale while at the same time being capable of changing the product in such a way that it would form gels.

ATO claims that the yeast Hansenula polymorpha​, when grown under the right conditions, is naturally capable of carrying out such special changes in gelatine.

According to ATO, because the yeast can be instructed to build new structures into the gelatine, numerous new applications are possible - in particular in the area of allergies.

The possibility of making new molecules that contain more than one function could also enable the development of other applications, concludes ATO.