Alternative Protein Production - An Opportunity to Limit Global Pandemics and Secure our Food Supply

In a 2008 article, Global trends in emerging infections diseases, a team representing cross-disciplined scientists in zoology, medicine, earth sciences, economics, ecology, and conservation medicine, analyzed the origins of 335 emerging infectious diseases between 1940 and 2004. They found that 60.3% originate from animal to human transmission, which generally refers to domesticated animal handling transmission. The largest percentage, 71.8% were found to originate from wildlife, which transmission is at an increasing rate. Other infectious diseases emerge from bacteria and fungi, not discussed here.

In the 21st Century, significant COVID (CoV) pathogens entered the human population up to the 2008 article, including HIV-1, SARS, MERS and an increase in the growth in Lyme disease. These pathogens are closely associated with areas with a greater richness of biodiversity, coupled with human handling of wild animals for food and medicinal claims, and related illegal poaching and trade. Collectively, an uncontrolled supply chain at a global level. 

SARS - CoV, zoonotic source is considered to be the wild civet sold in outdoor markets, and MERS- CoV from dromedary camels, a corona-like virus transmission with shorter lived transmissions. The COVID-19 genome, a coronavirus, to which SARS is classified, is under evaluation and considered similar to virus genomes in bats and/or cross-transfer to pangolin, a nocturnal animal poached for its minimal protein and belief that its scales have medicinal properties. Science is not yet determined if the wild animal is the preadaptive source of the new strain of CoV, e.g. CoV #x preadapts into CoV #z or the adaptation occurs in the human host genome anomalies.f.n. 1  

The initial zoonotic transfer and outbreak of these viruses tend to concentrate in areas where human to wild animal contact is much higher. In other words, where there is extensive and continuous contact with wild animals due to food market sales, poaching, handling, or illegal trade occurs. A prophetic warning of the 2008 global trends article was that while there is an increased incidence of the outbreaks of CoV pathogens in bio-diverse, uncontrolled wild animal markets, concentrated in lower latitude locales, there was a disproportionate allocation of surveillance in completely the opposite latitudinal direction in more developed locales:

"This contrasts with our risk maps (Fig. 3), which suggest that predicted emerging disease hotspots due to zoonotic pathogens from wildlife and vector-borne pathogens are more concentrated in lower-latitude developing countries. We conclude that the global effort for EID surveillance and investigation is poorly allocated, with the majority of our scientific resources focused on places from where the next important emerging pathogen is least likely to originate. We advocate re-allocation of resources for ‘smart surveillance’ of emerging disease hotspots in lower latitudes, such as tropical Africa, Latin America and Asia..." 

Not only is human health at risk from these unsafe animal handling, but the global protein supply is itself at risk due to similar animal to animal pathogens. For example, the swine flu of 2019, a pig borne pathogen, resulted in more than 3 million pigs slaughtered in Asia, within six months. And, fundamentally, the world needs more protein production in any case. Global population is estimated reach $9.7B by 2050. The population will require 60% more calories per year, double the production in developing countries. 

While the general global population may have been cognizant that these pathogens arise, infect, kill, and wreak economic havoc, few are aware that they are zoonoses, a disease that can be transmitted by animals, domesticated or wild! Fewer still tie these high-risk CoV diseases to the way in which we produce, supply, and consume food. And, left out of the discussion is influenza, an entirely different form of pathogen. The zoonotic transfer of avian influenza, strains of which are known to reach deadly pandemic stage, occur in very similar methods of animal handling, as stated in this article:

"for avian influenza viruses, the primary risk factor for human infection appears to be direct or indirect exposure to infected live or dead poultry or contaminated environments, such as live bird markets. Slaughtering, defeathering, handling carcasses of infected poultry, and preparing poultry for consumption, especially in household settings, are also likely to be risk factors. Influenza (Avian and other zoonotic) 13 November 2018" 

Perhaps, since the world has been consuming protein from domesticated animals, live markets, and uncontrolled supply chains for more than 10,000 years there has been a denial of risks to and from the entire global food production system. In more controlled supply chains and modern markets in nice refrigerated cases with shrink wrapped protein, perhaps there is a suspension of disbelief, blind adherence, or manipulation of information by incumbent suppliers. Put simply, the way in which we produce, supply, and consume food is antiquated and ill-conceived for the 21st Century - a time of global connectedness and rapid dissemination of pathogens.

Yet, since the 1980s, medicinal properties from plants, animals, and even humans, e.g. gene therapy and regenerative medicine, rely on precision biology, genomics, data sciences and molecular sciences to replicate benefits from plants, animals and now humans to produce protein and medicinals at scale.

Starting in 2016, at New Luna, a family office investor, heeded the alarm as to the health and environmental risks of traditional methods to produce, supply, and consume proteins. We identified advances in plant sciences, precision biology, and texture and materials sciences had come together to create new plant-based proteins and the promise for cellular meat, meat grown from the cells of the animal in a controlled environment, without the animal itself.  

As an individual investor, I made my first alternative protein investment in 2016, a small one in a plant-based food producer after extensive research in plant-based foods. Starting in and again in 2018, we commenced extensive research on plant-based and cellular meat production based on innovation in the bio-sciences, synthetic biology, materials and texture science, bioengineering innovation, and improvements in production and testing. We identified, qualified, and performed diligence on the leading candidates for investment that fit our thesis. Thereafter, we formed relationships with these leading companies and entrepreneurs.

These innovations, intellectual property, and methods will enable protein to be manufactured at scale, without the animal, in a safe and reliable manner, without hormones, antibiotics, and significantly reduced risk of contamination. Environmental impact benefits of producing protein using alternative methods vs. traditional animal rearing include the following:

• 1% - of the land use
• 2.5% - 10% of feedstock
• Alt. proteins are 10x - 20x more efficient at feed to protein produced
• 10% of the water 
• 20% of the energy

The safety benefits are implicit: manufactured protein produced in controlled environments, with entirely new and safer supply chains. These methods will significantly reduce the risk of global pandemic like those the world has faced for centuries and the one we all face today.

New Luna Ventures has identified the leading entrepreneurs, scientists and thinkers in the field. We have established direct access, investment allocation, and a rapid investment deployment method via our investment syndication, i.e per company. We have ready to go also a broader venture fund tied to corporate strategic investors who can rapidly expand production and science.

Our research, network, and effort has been big, our financial resources are small - we are not a fund, we are not billionaires, nor a foundation. Rather, we have twenty-five years of entrepreneurial experience, investment fiduciary experience, and relationships to the leading players in the sector. We continue to invest, despite COVID-19, and to advance our efforts, team and support Food 2.0 entrepreneurs.

I call on family offices and other investors to support this need and opportunity for a reliable and safe food supply by joining our efforts to deploy capital into our pre-identified candidates via our individual syndication (per company basis) or captive fund. 

If you are a family office, direct investor, or corporate strategic partner, please reach out to join this important need and opportunity to help create lasting impact for a sustainable future.

Gary J. Schefsky, Founder, New Luna Ventures

March 24, 2020

San Francisco

F.n. 1 - The science is still in evaluation if animal CoV viruses preadapted in the particular species into a new variant of CoV, increasing the chances of different types of CoV virus transmission to humans or the zoonotic transfer occurs first and the adaptation occurs in human populations with specific evolutionary genomes. In any case, it appears that without the zoonotic transfer, the risk of CoV pandemic, via human host adaptation or not, is greatly reduced. The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2, March, 2020. Nature Medicine, Andersen, Rambaut, Lipkin, Holmes & Garry.