A new food economy is taking root. It’s showing up in the dairy section of grocery stores and in the drive-thrus of Burger King. Plant-based milk, meat, and even sushi are appearing more regularly on menus, riding a trend created by companies like Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and Ripple.

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The Age of Animal Protein—with its environmental, ethical, and health baggage—seems to be giving way to the Age of Alternative Protein.

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There are companies going well beyond plant-based burgers or creamy milks made from nuts. Startups are trying to coax animal cells into steaks and bypass the slaughterhouse altogether or tweak the genetics of microbes to produce proteins found in milk and eggs. If the idea of chowing down on a lab-grown burger someday still sounds a little fantastical, then the following efforts to reimagine and redesign animal-free protein will seem out of this world. […]

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