---
title: "Scientists Created Dairy-Free Ice Cream From GM Yeast"
description: "Dairy-free products company Perfect Day Foods just created a creamy ice cream using genetically modified yeast — and without relying on cows."
date: "2019-07-12"
modified: "2019-07-12"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/dairy-free-ice-cream-gm-yeast"
categories:
  - "Genetics"
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "genetically modified"
  - "genetically modified food"
  - "gm"
  - "the digest"
  - "yeast"
---

# Scientists Created Dairy-Free Ice Cream From GM Yeast

![Dairy-free products company Perfect Day Foods just created a creamy ice cream using genetically modified yeast — and without relying on cows.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/dairy-free-ice-cream-gm-yeast.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Shutterstock/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Secret Cow Level

Dairy-free products company Perfect Day Foods just created a creamy ice cream using genetically modified yeast that produces whey proteins — meaning no cows were involved with its production.

While the Bay Area-based startup claims its new invention is the "world's first animal-free ice cream" on [its website](<https://www.perfectdayfoods.com/taste-the-magic/>), it's worth nothing that there are plenty of non-dairy and vegan ice cream alternatives out there like oat-, almond-, and chickpea-based milk products.

## Creamier Than Ever

What sets this particular ice cream apart is the whey protein, bringing it far closer in terms of taste and texture to the real thing — but without the need to industrially farm animals. *Fast Company* writer Adele Peters [could not tell it apart](<https://www.fastcompany.com/90367393/i-couldnt-tell-this-delicious-lab-grown-ice-cream-didnt-come-from-a-cow>) from the real thing in a taste test.

"Both of us happen to have a similar background of working in medicine, where therapeutics and medicines are made using basically fermentation already today," co-founder Ryan Pandya [told *Fast Company*](<https://www.fastcompany.com/90367393/i-couldnt-tell-this-delicious-lab-grown-ice-cream-didnt-come-from-a-cow>). "And so the two of us started scratching our heads and wondering, what if we just apply that same exact technology that’s been around for half a century to make the world’s most in-demand, highest-quality protein?"

**READ MORE:** [I couldn’t tell this delicious lab-grown ice cream didn’t come from a cow](<https://www.fastcompany.com/90367393/i-couldnt-tell-this-delicious-lab-grown-ice-cream-didnt-come-from-a-cow>) \[*Fast Company*\]

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)