What our evolution reveals about modern biotechnology

How did humans develop their extraordinarily large brains? Evolutionary biologists have been pondering this question for decades. For a long time, fire - and therefore cooking - was regarded as a decisive step in the history of evolution. However, a fascinating idea is increasingly coming into focus: was it possibly fermentation that gave humans the decisive evolutionary advantage?

In the podcast episode "Fermentation, Fire, and Our Big Brains" researchers Dr. Katherine Bryant and Dr. Erin Hecht discuss precisely this hypothesis. Their hypothesis is that fermented foods may have been more easily accessible to our ancestors than cooked foods - and yet made just as great a contribution to supplying the brain with energy.

The human brain is a real energy guzzler: it alone accounts for around 20 to 25 percent of our total energy requirements. To ensure such an energy supply, early humans had to find new ways of utilizing food. According to Bryant and Hecht, fermentation could have played a decisive role in this. It makes food easier to digest, increases the bioavailability of nutrients and can break down antinutritive substances. In short: microbial predigestion turns less into more.

While cooking with fire requires technological skills, tools and social learning, fermentation can also occur spontaneously. In a warm climate, with the right conditions, plant or animal raw materials ferment almost by themselves. This means that humans were able to take advantage of this microbial transformation even without active intervention - a possible evolutionary "stroke of luck".

For us at woresan this look at evolution is not just a retrospective. On the contrary: it confirms our conviction that fermentation is not just a processing step, but a fundamental form of biotechnology one that is deeply rooted in nature and that we should approach with respect and curiosity.

Our approach to ecosystemic fermentation is based on precisely this principle: Instead of cultivating selective individual strains, we rely on microbial complexitynatural coexistence and mutual regulation within the microbial world. This complex interplay produces ferments that are not only stable but also rich in bioactive ingredients. It is a system that is oriented towards nature - and not towards outdoing it.

A look at traditional ferments from around the world shows that this microbial complexity has evolved. Whether kimchi in Korea, sourdough in Central Europe or chicha in the Andes: Cultures all over the world have developed microorganisms long before they were able to name them or observe them under a microscope. These traditional fermentation processes are cultural repositories of biological knowledge - and today a valuable source of inspiration for functional foods, food supplements and cosmetic ingredients. cosmetic ingredients.

We are currently experiencing a renaissance of microbiology, particularly in the cosmetics sector. Microbiome-friendly formulationspost and parabiotics, ferment-based active ingredients: What used to be considered just a preservative or fragrance is now seen as a targeted contribution to skin health. And here too, it is clear that the closer we get to natural microbial processes, the better tolerated, more effective and more sustainable the products are.

If fermentation was a pacemaker in human evolution, then it is also a signpost for our future. Because today's challenges - scarcity of resources, climate change, health, skin compatibility - call for intelligent solutions that are close to nature. Fermentation can be such a solution: not as a romantic throwback, but as a highly topical technology with roots in nature.

Fermentation has never been a trend. It has always been a foundation. And perhaps our oldest Biotech.

Inspired by the podcast episode "Fermentation, Fire, and OurBig Brains" (Many Minds Podcast, with Dr. Katherine Bryant and Dr. Erin Hecht.