The Future Is Squirming: Silkworms, Protein, and the Quiet Revolution on Your Plate

We always imagined the future would be sleek, gleaming, and chrome.

But maybe it's soft-bodied, wriggling, and very much alive.

India’s biotech startup Loopworm has secured $3.25 million to scale its silkworm-based protein production, and if you think this is just about fish food, think again.

These aren’t your grandmother’s worms, weaving threads for bridal gowns.
These are engineered organisms, coded to create complex proteins that rival those found in synthetic labs.

A New Kind of Protein Factory

Loopworm began with humble ambitions: feed for aquaculture and pets.
And in a world desperate for sustainable solutions, that alone would’ve made waves.
But this isn’t just a sustainability story, it’s a revolution in biology.

Their genetically tailored silkworms are designed to produce proteins so precise, they could replace ingredients in pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, and even…eventually…human food.

What once spun silk may soon spin cures, soil regenerators, and yes…burgers.

Silk Meets Science

We’re used to seeing insects as pests or curiosities.
But to biotech pioneers, they're programmable units. Nature's original micro-factories.
These silkworms, lovingly reengineered, are capable of outputting molecules with staggering utility. It’s not just protein.
It’s potential.

Think collagen for skin. Enzymes for digestion. Antibodies for medicine.

This isn’t a strange gimmick. It’s the logical evolution of biotechnology: use what already works in nature, and teach it to do more.

The Emotional Barrier

Here’s where it gets sticky: we still flinch at the idea of bugs on our plate.
The West in particular holds tightly to a culinary caste system. Chicken? Fine. Cow? Sacred. Worm?

…Nope.

But that resistance may be more cultural than rational. Silkworms produce protein with far less environmental cost than any land mammal. They don’t need fields.
They don’t drink gallons of water. And they don’t scream.

Still, the visceral reaction lingers. Loopworm knows it.

That’s why they’re staying in the background…quietly working on pet food, fish pellets, agricultural enzymes. They’re not pushing us to eat the worm.

Not yet. But the groundwork is being laid.

Beyond Food: Biopharma Beckons

Perhaps the most exciting frontier isn’t edible at all.
Biopharma is where things get truly profound.
Custom proteins made by silkworms could serve as treatments for rare diseases. They could replace synthetic drug ingredients that cost millions to manufacture.

And they could do it at scale, sustainably, in tiny, climate-controlled worm farms.

Worms. As medicine.
Imagine telling that to a medieval doctor.

Or your dinner guests.

Nature as a Codebase

We often think of nature as fixed. Trees grow.
Worms wriggle. But life is more plastic than we give it credit for.
DNA is code. Organisms are open-source.
And companies like Loopworm are simply the new programmers.

It’s not unnatural. It’s a deeper kind of natural.
One that recognizes that life adapts, not just over millennia, but within a single funding round.

The Economics of the Squirm

Let’s not forget: this is also about money.

Global demand for sustainable protein is skyrocketing.
The insect protein market alone is projected to hit $9 billion by 2030.
Pet food companies are desperate for alternatives to overfished ingredients. Fish farms need better feed that won’t poison rivers.
Agriculture wants cheaper enzymes that don’t pollute the soil.

Loopworm’s silkworms aren’t just interesting…they’re inevitable.

Programming Nature Like Code

We’ve long talked about “eating local” or “buying organic,” but what happens when food is no longer grown, but programmed?

These silkworms are a glimpse into a future where every nutrient, every protein, every molecule of flavor is born not in soil, but in a lab that mimics it.
It’s nature, yes, but with firmware updates.

The boundary between farming and software is crumbling.
Today it's silkworms; tomorrow it might be bees engineered to pollinate only climate-resilient crops or bacteria that grow bacon.

The old agricultural gods (sun, rain, season) are being replaced with algorithms and petri dishes.
The future isn’t fake, it’s precise.
And maybe, if done with reverence, that’s not a betrayal of nature. Maybe it’s a deeper collaboration.

Emotionally Preparing for Insects on the Menu

There’s something primal about our resistance to bugs.
No matter how logical the argument, the thought of chewing an insect summons something ancestral: an old warning bell that says don’t.

But slowly, culture is being rewritten.

In fine dining circles, ants are already appearing on plates dusted with citrus.
Cricket flour sneaks into brownies labeled “eco protein.”
The fear is softening.

Maybe our palates are more adaptable than we think.
Maybe disgust is just unfamiliarity wearing a loud costume.
Give it a generation, and silkworms might be as common as shrimp.

After all, shrimp are just ocean bugs we decided were elegant, right?

This isn’t about forcing change.
It’s about giving time for culture to stretch, and curiosity to outweigh discomfort.

From Worm Farms to Pharmacies: The New Biopharma Frontier

Most of us picture labs as sterile, silent places.

But what if the next generation of medicine comes from farms…just not the kind with cows?

Worm farms could become micropharmacies, churning out enzymes, insulin analogs, or antibodies more affordably than ever before.
No more million-dollar batches.
No more unstable supply chains.
These organisms could be grown locally, harvested ethically, and coded for life-saving missions.

It’s a quiet upheaval in healthcare: not just lowering costs, but decentralizing biotech.

Your future prescriptions might come from a vertical farm, not Pfizer.
And maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe the soft-bodied, often overlooked creatures of the world are our greatest hope, not just for food, but for healing.

The Ethics of Engineering Life That Feeds Us

There’s a holy weight to food. It’s not just sustenance, it’s sacrifice.

So when we begin designing organisms specifically to nourish us, questions rise from the marrow: Are we gods now?
Or gardeners with a bigger toolkit?

Silkworms modified to create pharmaceuticals or proteins blur the line between utility and reverence.
How do we honor a life we created solely to harvest?
Does consciousness matter in ethical farming?
Or is intention the new morality?

These aren’t questions with answers, they’re doors.
And we’re just beginning to walk through them. If we engineer the future, we must also engineer grace.

Gratitude. And rules not just for success, but for soul.

Worms as Climate Warriors

As the climate shifts, traditional agriculture grows brittle.
Crops fail. Livestock suffer.

But worms? Worms thrive in controlled environments.
They don’t need acres of land or torrents of water.
They’re efficient, humble, and indifferent to drought.

Silkworm proteins could become the quiet backbone of food security, not flashy, but resilient.

In a future where climate shocks hit harder and faster, silkworms may be our strongest safety net. The proteins they produce are high-yield, low-emission.
They don’t fart methane or need imported grain.
In a warming world, it’s not about tradition. It’s about survival.

And these wriggling heroes might just be the ones to save us.

Why “Natural” Doesn’t Always Mean Real

We think of “natural” as a comfort word…something wholesome, trustworthy.

But most of what we eat isn’t natural.
Chickens are bred to grow impossibly fast.
Tomatoes are designed for shelf life, not flavor.
“Natural” has become an aesthetic, not a truth.

Meanwhile, lab-grown or insect-derived proteins get labeled “unnatural” despite their efficiency, safety, and sustainability.
It’s a branding mismatch, and it holds real consequences.

We need a new vocabulary for food. One that honors intention and impact, not just familiarity.
Because if a silkworm-based protein nourishes you without harming the planet, isn’t that more natural than a chicken raised in a windowless box?

The brain resists change. But the heart knows better.

The Future of Farming Might Not Involve Farmers

Silkworms. Bioreactors.
Microbes that ferment protein.
We’re entering an era where food production is happening without fields.
Or tractors. Or even sunshine.

Farming, as we’ve known it for millennia, may become obsolete, not out of malice, but necessity.

That doesn’t mean we lose our connection to food.
It just means the connection changes.

From dirt under our nails to code in our hands. From watering crops to monitoring cultures.
The soul of farming (stewardship, care, nourishment) can live in new forms.

It’s not the form that matters. It’s the ethos. And if we carry that forward, even a worm can be sacred.

So…Will We Ever Eat Them?

The short answer? Probably.

Not today, and not in their whole form.
But you’ll see silkworm proteins slip into powders. Into bars.
Into supplements labeled “sustainable.”
The word “insect” might never appear.

But you’ll feel the difference in your gut, in your skin, and in your planet’s carbon levels.

And one day, someone might ask if you'd like the silkworm patty, and you’ll pause out of pure curiosity.

Because the early funder gets the worm.