From Molecule to Meaning: Better Dairy’s Vision to Reinvent Nutrition Through Precision Fermentation

Courtesy: Better Dairy

As synthetic biology emerges from the lab and into real-world applications, one startup is betting big on transforming dairy at its molecular core — not by mimicking milk, but by redefining what it can do. Ahead of his appearance at SynBioBeta 2025, Dr. David Nunn, Chief Scientific Officer at Better Dairy sat down to share the company’s bold approach to the future of nutrition: a future where dairy is no longer bound by cows, and its value lies not in creaminess or taste, but in precision-crafted bioactives that can shape human health.

Based in London and founded in 2020, Better Dairy is part of a new generation of food biotech companies using precision fermentation to unlock ingredients that nature made rare and agriculture made inefficient. At the heart of its work is osteopontin (OPN), a powerful protein found in abundance in human breast milk but nearly absent from cow’s milk — and almost entirely missing from the formulas and dairy products most people consume.

“We’re taking dairy beyond its conventional benefits,” said Nunn. “With synthetic biology, we can finally produce bioactive proteins like osteopontin at meaningful levels, significantly impacting human health — especially for infants and adults requiring specialised nutrition.”

It’s not just talk. In human milk, OPN plays a crucial role in cognitive development, immune function, and gut health. Studies suggest its concentration is up to 15 times higher than in cow’s milk — a gap that standard dairy products or plant-based alternatives can’t bridge. Worse still, extracting meaningful quantities of OPN from cow’s milk would require filtering up to 40,000 litres to obtain just a kilogram, making it commercially and environmentally unviable.

Better Dairy’s fermentation platform flips that model. By producing human-identical OPN in microbial hosts, the company sidesteps cows entirely — reducing water use by 60%, and cutting CO₂ and land use by over 90% compared to conventional production methods.

Courtesy: EPV

This pivot toward precision isn’t just about health. It’s a systems-level rethink. Dairy production is responsible for more than two billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent emissions per year, alongside major pressures on water and land. As the global demand for dairy is expected to grow by 33% by 2033, the need for scalable, low-impact alternatives becomes more urgent. Nunn believes synthetic biology offers a scalable path forward: “Synthetic biology is no longer just about technological possibility. It’s about creating meaningful, real-world nutritional benefits and bridging the gap between innovation and human need.”

Better Dairy’s approach is also calibrated for consumer and regulatory sensitivities. Its products are GMO-free, lactose-free, and entirely animal-free, aligning with growing demands for clean-label, ethical, and climate-conscious foods. While some companies chase parity in taste and texture with cow’s milk, Better Dairy is reaching for something more ambitious — unlocking functionality and health outcomes that conventional dairy can’t match.

That puts the company in a growing ecosystem of biotech firms focused on functional dairy ingredients. Earlier this year, Dutch startup Vivici announced a partnership with Liberation Labs to scale production of beta-lactoglobulin, while France’s Standing Ovation is working with Tetra Pak to bring animal-free caseins to market. What sets Better Dairy apart is its focus on rare, high-value bioactives that could transform medical and infant nutrition.

The company’s ambitions are backed by a serious team and strong investor interest. CEO Jevan Nagarajah, who founded Better Dairy after stints in venture capital and biotech consulting, has positioned the company to scale with purpose. Their roadmap includes applications in infant formula, sports nutrition, and even clinical dietary interventions — all areas where functionality trumps flavour and where precision matters most.

As Nunn prepares to speak at SynBioBeta next week in San Jose, the timing couldn’t be more fitting. Momentum is building around bio-manufactured functional ingredients, and the narrative is shifting from replacement to improvement. “This is about expanding the nutritional horizon,” he said. “By making these scarce but essential milk proteins widely available, we open new doors not just for infant health but for nutrition at every life stage.”

In a sector often crowded with promises of disruption, Better Dairy is staking its claim on restoration — of nutritional equity, of resource efficiency, and of the scientific potential hidden in the molecules nature perfected but industrial systems overlooked. That vision, quietly radical, may soon become a central chapter in the next era of dairy.