How Shiru Uses AI & Biotechnology for Sustainable Food Innovation | Jasmin Hume
In this episode of An Hour of Innovation, Vit Lyoshin speaks with Jasmin Hume, the founder and CEO of Shiru, about how her company uses biotechnology, AI, and precision fermentation to create sustainable food ingredients.
Shiru’s mission is to develop sustainable, scalable, high-performance ingredients for the food and personal care industries. Instead of relying on artificial compounds, they look to nature, analyzing proteins from thousands of edible plants. With AI, they can quickly identify and test ingredients that perform better than traditional options.
Shiru has built a database of 33 million natural protein sequences. Using machine learning, they identify proteins with specific properties - such as improving texture, replacing eggs, or enhancing flavors - and then produce and test them in the lab. This process, which once took years, now takes just a few months.
Jasmin highlighted some of Shiru’s breakthroughs:
* Egg Replacements – Proteins that mimic the binding and texturizing properties of eggs.
* Fat Alternatives (OleoPro) – A sustainable replacement for palm oil, coconut oil, and animal fats that performs better and has a smaller environmental impact.
* Natural Flavor Modulation – Proteins that enhance sweetness, reducing the need for added sugar.
Many people are wary of lab-grown or engineered food. Jasmin emphasized that all food is, in some way, engineered - whether through centuries of cultivation or modern AI-driven discovery. Shiru’s approach focuses on natural solutions, using science to find better, safer, and more sustainable alternatives.
With AI accelerating the discovery and testing of new ingredients, companies like Shiru are paving the way for cleaner labels, improved nutrition, and a smaller environmental footprint. As Jasmin put it, “The best ingredients are already in nature - we just need the right tools to find them”.
Dr. Jasmin Hume is the Founder and CEO of Shiru, a biotechnology company that utilizes machine learning and fermentation to discover and produce sustainable, functional ingredients for the food industry. She holds a PhD in protein engineering from NYU, an MSc from Chalmers University, and a BEng from McGill University. Before founding Shiru, Dr. Hume served as the Director of Food Chemistry at JUST (formerly Hampton Creek), where she applied her expertise in proteins, biochemistry, materials science, and food science to develop transformative, sustainable food products. In addition to her role at Shiru, she is an Investment Partner at XFactor Ventures, focusing on providing capital to companies. Dr. Hume is also active on social media, sharing insights related to food chemistry and alternative proteins.
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Takeaways
* Shiru uses biotechnology, AI, and precision fermentation to develop sustainable, scalable food and personal care ingredients, addressing environmental challenges while maintaining high performance.
* The company starts with a database of 33 million natural protein sequences, leveraging nature’s diversity (e.g., 50,000 edible plant species) to create ingredients that are nature-identical, avoiding synthetic alternatives.
* Shiru’s AI-driven process cuts ingredient discovery from years to just 3-4 months, screening millions of proteins digitally and hundreds physically, reducing R&D costs and time significantly.
* Ingredients like OleoPro use sustainable oils (e.g., sunflower) and proteins (e.g., potato) to replace environmentally damaging fats, providing healthier, unsaturated fat options with minimal ecological footprint.
* Shiru partners with large food and ingredient companies, offering tailored co-development to meet specific needs, acting as an outsourced innovation engine with a focus on performance and scalability.
* Ingredients undergo rigorous FDA’s GRAS approval (12-24 months), ensuring safety through detailed testing, composition analysis, and historical consumption data.
* Jasmin emphasizes that “engineered” food isn’t new - humans have modified crops for millennia - and Shiru’s natural, tech-enhanced solutions aim to meet consumer demands for tasty, safe, affordable products.
* Jasmin predicts a shift toward natural, healthy, affordable ingredients driven by technology, consumer demand, and regulatory changes (e.g., recent FDA bans on artificial additives), with AI enabling highly customizable products.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction to Shiru and Food Innovation
03:09 Identifying Problems in the Food Industry
05:47 Leveraging AI and Biotechnology for Ingredient Discovery
08:30 Accelerating Ingredient Development Processes
10:10 Showcasing Shiru's Innovative Ingredients
12:37 Comparing New Ingredients to Traditional Ones
15:22 Exploring Versatility Across Food Categories
17:04 The Complexity of Taste and Texture
19:24 Food Products That Contain Shiru’s Ingredients
20:21 How Ingredients are Labeled on Food Packages?
22:07 What is OleoPro Product?
23:00 Addressing Skepticism Around Lab-Grown Ingredients
27:07 Navigating Regulatory Challenges in Food Innovation
30:22 Addressing Misconceptions in Food Innovation
31:58 Customizing B2B Partnerships in Food Development
35:11 Expanding Beyond Food: New Applications for Ingredients
38:58 The Competitive Edge of Innovative Ingredient Solutions
43:08 Leveraging AI for Rapid Product Development
48:25 The Future of Natural Ingredients and Technology
50:26 Personal Growth and Lessons in Entrepreneurship
51:56 Advice to Scientists Who Want to Commercialize Their Ideas
Connect with Jasmin
* Website: https://shiru.com/
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasminhume/
* X: https://x.com/jasminhume
Podcast Links
Connect with Vit
- Website: https://vitlyoshin.com/contact/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vit-lyoshin/
