Savour the future: how to make a plant patty that tastes just like beef

As sabbaticals go, molecular biologist Patrick Brown's must be one of the most productive. Brown had a clear goal in mind in 2010 when he took a break from his regular scientific work at Stanford University: he wanted to challenge the livestock industry.

"Meat production leaves such a [carbon] footprint. According to the United Nations, it is responsible for more greenhouse gases than the entire transport industry, including trains, buses, cars, trucks and planes," he says.

Brown, 60, wanted to change that. Beyond working out how much it would cost to mitigate the damaging effects on the planet, he had a more ambitious plan: coming up with a tasty, nutritious - and affordable - alternative to meat.

That quest is now bearing fruit. He returned from sabbatical and established Impossible Foods, a start-up that aims to produce plant-based foods that can recreate the multilayered sensations of eating meat and dairy products.

Its first creation is expected to go into shops next year: a plant-based "meat" that browns on the pan and oozes "blood" juices much the way beef would. And ahead of the roll-out, Impossible Foods has held tastings in Asia of burgers made with its prototype meat, including a private session for Li Ka-shing, whose Horizons Ventures is among several venture capital funds that have invested US$74 million in the three-year-old Californian company.

Brown is presenting his burger as an option for meat lovers rather than vegetarians like himself (he hasn't eaten meat for 40 years).

"It's made entirely from plant. [But] if you call it veggie burger, meat eaters will think it doesn't taste any good ... It's just meat made in a better way," he says.