Gallery: Inside Look: The Startup Lab Using Plants to Make Next-Gen Super Eggs

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    joshhampton

    Josh Tetrick, founder of Hamtpon Creek Foods, a start-up that's trying to use plants to replace eggs. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
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    Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
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    Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

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    Beyond Eggs. Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

    Eggless omelets are on the horizon. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
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    Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

    The company's first product, an egg-free (and cholesterol free) mayo is already on Whole Foods shelves. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
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    Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

    The company’s scientists have approached the egg not as an indivisible unit but rather as a highly optimized tool capable of all sorts of different culinary tricks. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
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    Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

    “The reason why a chicken egg is great is because it has 22 different functionalities,” Tetrick says. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
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    Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

    With the help of a few million in venture funding, and an investment from Bill Gates, the company’s scientists have spent the last year scouring the world’s flora with start-up scrappiness. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
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    Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

    A closet is full of slightly tweaked versions of their novel mayo, like the room with the arks in Indiana Jones. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
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    Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

    French toast is also in prototype phase. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
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    Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

    To zero in on these egg-mimicking proteins and harness them for actual products, Tetrick assembled a team not only of traditional food scientists but of biochemists and molecular engineers. Leading the search is Joshua Klein, Hampton Creek’s Director of Biochemistry R&D. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
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    Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

    “\[Josh\] doesn’t look at mayonnaise or a cookie or a scrambled egg like we would,” Tetrick says. “He looks at it like a branch chain of amino acids.” *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
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    Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

    Tetrick’s quick to point out that ditching eggs for plants makes solid financial sense. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
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    Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

    Eggs are big business—nearly two trillion are laid every year—and Hampton Creek’s substitute is currently up to 18 percent less expensive than the cheapest chicken egg, which translates into a jar of mayonnaise that’s roughly five percent cheaper than competitors. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
  • Mayo through the microscope. Photo Josh ValcarcelWIRED
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    Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

    Mayo through the microscope. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
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