Would This Be Cannabalism?

Sciencey Friday MOIF

Gelatin didn't always gross me out until I knew what it was ==> an ingredient derived from slaughterhouse leftovers such as skin (yuk) bones (eww) connective tissue (ugh.) Anything other than plant-based gelatin has no place in my desserts, thank you. Aside from the emotional reaction many of us may have to animal-based gelatin there is also a risk of infectious diseases and gelatin can provoke immune system responses in some people.

Apparently animal-based gelatin has other draw-backs from a manufacturing point of view since there is great variability from batch to batch. So scientists are developing a new method to create large quantities of human-derived gelatin. SAY WHAT? Yes. Human gelatin could become a substitute for some of the animal-based gelatin we eat in gelatin-type desserts, marshmallows, some yogurts and candies and many other products. Their study appears in ACS’s Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.

I'm pleased to say that the human gelatin won't be coming from your sweet old Aunt Myrtle. Scientists have developed and demonstrated a method in which human gelatin genes are inserted into a strain of yeast, which can produce gelatin with controllable features. The researchers are still testing the human-yeast gelatin to see how well it compares to other gelatins in terms of its viscosity and other attributes. The researchers suggest that their method could be scaled up to produce large amounts of gelatin for commercial use.

Do I need to say how disgusting this still is? Next time you go to your family reunion potluck you may want to avoid Aunt Myrtle's green grape jello dessert. She may have put a bit too much of herself into her creation.

P.S. Plant-based gelatins do exist. Look for the two most common: carrageenan (from seaweed) and agar agar, from another wild sea vegetable.