Inside the fierce messy fight over "healthy" sugar tech

Could it save the planet whilst tackling obesity? Big Sugar is exploring a new “rare sugar” technology that could be worth billions. It’s as sweet as sucrose but with half the calories. And it could also be used as bio-oil. No wonder the race is on to stake a claim in its production process. Mark Harris explores the massive potential of the natural sugar tagatose. Here, he explores how one sugar specialising bioengineer got caught up in the global corporate fight over who owns the process and ruined his chances of pursuing the American dream. 

‘If you ask Zhang, he was guilty of nothing worse than poor judgment and ignorance of the rules; he sees himself as a man brought low by treachery. “They cheated the technology from me. They robbed me and took everything,” he says.’