In July, we looked at how Israel’s Amai Proteins is engineering a non-GMO “designer protein” that tastes as sweet as sugar but doesn’t raise blood sugar or insulin levels, doesn’t cause obesity and doesn’t harm the liver, kidneys or microbiome as sugar can.

Thaumatin, found in the katemfe plant, is a sweet protein that can be used to replace sugar. Photo courtesy Amai Proteins

“The world is spending huge amounts of money to cure disease,” says founder Ilan Samish. “But we’re not focusing on curing the food that’s causing the disease. We need to cure the food rather than cure the disease.” Could Amai Proteins’ future product cure the world’s sugar addiction with a safe alternative?