A Protein Marketplace

After decades of research, scientists have identified millions of naturally occurring proteins. These proteins can be used as ingredients in foods and consumer-packaged goods to augment taste, texture, and other properties, but surprisingly, we still don’t know what most of them are good for. Shiru, a tech-bio startup, has cataloged these proteins, and is using AI to predict their functions, before attempting to verify the results in the laboratory. In May, Shiru launched ProteinDiscovery.ai, an “on-demand” platform that allows customers, such as food scientists, to order samples “and do discovery on their own,” says company founder and CEO Jasmin Hume.