Alum Mathew Li (BSc ’24) uses his biochemistry degree to make cheese proteins sustainably
From the stretchy, elastic pull of fresh mozzarella as you pick up a piping hot piece of pizza, to the creamy ooze and velvety, decadent nostalgia of a comforting mac and cheese, the characteristics of the much-loved food staple cheese are undeniably familiar.
However, this also makes cheese hard to replicate in sustainable ways without the need for dairy.
University of Waterloo biochemistry alum Mathew Li (BSc ’24) is the Research Operations Associate at AuX Labs, a company working towards creating the classic stretch of cheese in a vegan, sustainable way. Using yeast and partnering with craft breweries, they are developing alternate methods to create the dairy protein casein, which is responsible for the stretchy cheese texture that we know and love.
“As someone who’s an avid cheese enjoyer, I was really interested in seeing what products we can make using alternative, non-dairy proteins,” says Li. “Using fermentation, we’ve created a cheese indistinguishable from traditional cheese, but that is more sustainable because it doesn’t rely on the carbon footprint of large amounts of dairy livestock.”
Li uses the hands-on experience he gained from Science’s lab courses and his coop terms to work in precision fermentation developing food products. He is currently developing a method to make casein by controlling the fermentation of yeast. Controlling variables including temperature, pH, and the amount of each material added, Li helps determine the optimal conditions to use yeast to create the exact same casein protein as found in dairy.
In his role, Li covers the process and logistics of scaling up reactions to take the company’s casein development from small scale to production. Partnering with micro-breweries, AuX Labs is using empty brewing tanks, which can hold several thousand litres, to run their fermentations.
“Almost everything that I do on a daily basis, I have had some experience or some exposure to in a Waterloo chemistry lab,” he says. “Going into the biochemistry program, I didn’t really know what to expect as a career path, but my first coop term was in food manufacturing. I found it really interesting and after that, I sought out more opportunities in this space following graduation.”
Li learned upon his graduation from Waterloo that the startup AuX Labs was hiring through networking with colleagues from his coop term in precision fermentation. In the startup ecosystem, Li says that he enjoys the rapid pace and change, as it keeps his days interesting and non-repetitive. He also enjoys the flexibility of the role, describing it as similar to being in school. There are overarching goals, and times when things are very busy, but he also has the ability to set his own schedule to get his goals and tasks completed on time.
As for Li’s favourite way to enjoy cheese, “pizza is definitely just a classic, but there’s also something really satisfying about eating from a bag of shredded cheese in front of the fridge at 3 a.m.”