Keepin it cheesy: An Interview with Kira, junior scientist at Formo

What does a *great* comms person do when the team goes wine tasting? Catch hold of tipsy team mates and interview them, of course.?

In this wine-and-vegan-food-fuelled chat, nestled in the lush hills of quaint Rüdesheim — we turn the spotlight on Kira von Bongartz , junior scientist from our bioprocessing team. She joined our team this February and has been doing protein wizardry at Formo’s culture campus aka the Frankfurt lab.?

Here’s her story:

What led you to Formo??

Kira: “My fascination with biology began in school, when I first learned about programming cells to produce actual products. This information to a 15 year old me was groundbreaking and the possibilities seemed endless. I started digging deeper, discussing the topic with my teachers and – at the risk of sounding too cheesy – falling in love with biology.?After finishing school, I studied molecular cell biology for my bachelors and master’s. So when I came across Formo's biotech, I knew this was the perfect opportunity for me to use my knowledge into building a product that will create an impact, while undoing some of the harm from the dairy industry.”

Too cheesy at a cheese company? No such thang. Next up, we asked Kira to simplify her job to our imaginary friend(s)

If you had to explain your job to a 10 year old, how would you describe it??

Here's Kira as a cute kid-a, right after she discovered a full tube of Penaten skin cream.

Kira: “Right now we’re many many people on this planet and everyone should be able to enjoy cheese. But sadly, producing all of this cheese from cow’s milk is harmful to cute cows and our planet. To solve this problem, my team is developing a new way of making milk but without any cows. We use teeny tiny microbes to first make milk, which we then turn into cheese.”?

Tiny microbes churning not-so-tiny cheese — Science, baby.?

We’re here to build ground breaking, status quo shaking products that will change dairy as we know it, and it cannot happen without a team that eats impact for breakfast. We asked Kira…

What does having an impact mean to you??

Kira: “It all boils down to change and the actions one takes to bring about this change – something I get to do everyday at Formo. In the last few years, if you (like me) have been made aware of the devastating effects of climate change and ongoing issues with our global food systems, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and sometimes, even helpless.?

At Formo, we’re producing dairy products using precision fermentation to decrease the current pressures and downsides of the dairy industry, which is one of the major contributors to climate change. The best part of working at Formo is definitely being a part of an impact driven company, that makes me happy, both: professionally and personally.”?

Last but not the least, our crowd favorite question.??

If you were a cheese, which one would you be and why??

Kira: "I would be a goat cheese because it has a very unique and distinct profile. It’s also fitting to the idea that everyone in the world has their own unique personalities, similar to cheese!"?

Want to make (and taste) animal-free cheese all day? Join our team: https://formo.bio/careers