The grant funding will support research on plant-based products, precision fermentation to produce proteins and nutrients and cultivated meat grown from animal cells.
The Bezos Center for Sustainable Protein has launched at North Carolina State University. The Bezos Earth Fund awarded NC State $30 million over five years to lead a center of excellence to create a biomanufacturing hub for dietary proteins that are environmentally friendly, healthy, tasty and affordable. Duke’s World Food Policy Center is a collaborator in the work.
NC State will work with academic partners Duke University, N.C. A&T State University, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Forsyth Tech Community College on research, workforce development, and community engagement efforts. More than 20 industry partners will also be part of the center, which will facilitate technology transfer and student internships and mentorships.
The center will engage partners from academia and industry to research, create, and commercialize new technologies, provide training for the emerging industry workforce, and gauge consumers’ protein preferences.
The grant funding will support research on three types of sustainable proteins: plant-based products; precision fermentation to produce proteins and nutrients that can be used in food formulations; and cultivated meat grown from animal cells.
