Ten years ago, a founder at Joywell was researching ways to help his grandmother, a cancer patient, enjoy foods after chemotherapy wrecked her taste buds. He came across a molecule called miraculin, a protein that temporarily tricks your taste buds into thinking sour is actually sweet.

Over the last several years, people have been throwing “flavor tripping parties” that revolve around popping a tablet of miraculin and subsequently trying sour foods, only to then perceive them as sweet. Joywell took this idea turn make the future of artificial sweeteners, made not from carbs, but from proteins. Today, Joywell mass produces this protein using a bit of genetic engineering and microbial fermentation, they’ll be partnering with CPG companies to push out a wide variety of products to replace not only natural but artificial sugars. Watch out, stevia!