Insects and Engineered Foods Could Revolutionize Global Protein Supply

**One of the Most Promising Protein Sources of the Future: Insects** *Sound exotic? Only to Europeans. In Asia, Africa, and South America, they've been eaten for millennia.* *Photo: nicemyphoto/Shutterstock/Fotodom* Humanity's demand for protein is set to surge by 50% in the coming decades, **Nadezhda Tyshko**, head of the Laboratory for Biotech and Novel Food Safety at the **Federal Research Centre for Nutrition and Biotechnology**, warned at the **"National Healthcare 2025"** congress. The question then arises: How can we feed everyone without expanding farmland or increasing livestock numbers?

**Tradition Meets Innovation**

The food of the future isn't about abandoning familiar products but combining them wisely with what modern biotechnology has to offer, Tyshko believes. **Society** *"Cool Teacher" Snaps Over Student's Rudeness, Gets Jail Time: Who's Right in the Case of the Young Ekaterinburg Educator?* **Society** Particular interest lies in so-called *alternative protein sources*—foods rarely or never consumed in our regions until now.

**From Delicacies to Daily Diets: Insects Take Center Stage**

One of the most promising future protein sources is insects. Sound strange? Only to Europeans. Across Asia, Africa, and South America, they've been a dietary staple for thousands of years. Now, this trend has reached Europe, where certain insect species have already been classified as livestock, complete with regulated usage standards. *"Insects are arthropods—close relatives of shrimp, crabs, and lobsters, which we consider delicacies,"* explains Tyshko. *"Their protein is complete, with an excellent amino acid profile."* The key advantage? Speed. Insects build biomass far faster than cows or pigs. But don't picture a plate of beetles and grasshoppers. Scientists propose a different approach: turning insects into a modular ingredient. *"We'll process them like soy—breaking them down into components,"* Tyshko says. *"Extracting high-quality protein (known as entomoprotein), fats for food and cosmetics, and chitin to produce chitosan, a beneficial compound."*

**Formula Food: When Every Meal Is Perfectly Balanced**

Another future trend is *engineered nutrition*—products with precisely designed compositions. The modern problem isn't food scarcity but imbalanced diets and "empty calories." *"We'll see a rise in foods whose entire composition is human-designed,"* the expert predicts. *"Outwardly, they'll look like familiar steaks, protein bars, or breakfast cereals. But a single serving could provide, say, 30% of your daily protein, vitamins, and micronutrient needs."* These functional foods fit seamlessly into the fast-paced life of a big city: you can grab a quick, healthy snack—like a protein- and vitamin-fortified bar or super-nutritious chips—without sacrificing wellness. **READ ALSO** **Cracking the Code of Aging: Why Getting Old Is an Option You Can Pause** **LISTEN ALSO** **How to Break Free from Sugar Addiction**