Session 4
Cultivated Meat
Cultivated Meat
What if, rather than trying to mimic meat using plants and microbes, we could produce actual animal muscle and fat without having to raise and slaughter the whole animal? Advances in stem cell technology have given rise to this: cultivated meat (sometimes referred to as cultured, clean, or lab-grown meat).
This session introduces the basics of cultivated meat - genuine animal meat that can replicate the sensory and nutritional profile of conventionally produced meat because it comprises the same cell types arranged in the same three-dimensional structure as animal muscle tissue. What are the main components of cultivated meat production and when might we see it on our plates?
Core Material
You are required to read/watch these and think about discussion prompts ahead of the session. We expect that you will need ~1 hr and 30 min to go through these resources.
Good Food Institute MOOC Lecture 5: What is cultivated meat? video and slides
GFI - Lecture (40 min)
Cultivated Meat Regulation and Entrepreneurship video & slides
MIT Cell Ag - Lecture (45min - 11:12 to 56:47 Note: the term ‘cellular agriculture’ (cell ag) encompasses both cultivated meat and precision fermentation)
Scientific, sustainability and regulatory challenges of cultured meat
Post et al. (2020) - Paper (25min - Feel free to skim/skip up to the section on Regulation)
Exercise
There are hundreds of companies and academic groups working on technologies related to cultivated meat. Which are you most excited about at present? Do some of your own research and come to the next session with 3 companies or groups that you’ve found to share with your cohort. We expect that you will need 20 min to complete this exercise.
Discussion Prompts
General
The term “cultivated meat” seems to have been settled on to describe this technology. You may also have heard terms such as “cultured meat”, “clean meat”, “cell-based meat”, “lab-grown meat” and more. Which terms do you prefer, and how important do you think the naming of this technology will be for its perception?
Cultivated meat is made of animal cells, so wouldn’t strictly be classed as vegan or vegetarian. How important is this and which demographics do you think will be the main consumers of CM products?
What groups might be negatively affected by disruption of the agricultural industry in a shift towards CM? How might we mitigate this?
Many companies are currently competing to reach pilot-scale and then commercial-scale production of CM and ultimately be the first to market. What are the benefits and potential risks of this competition in the context of CM?
Debate
Your facilitator will pick groups of participants to argue for and against. You will have ~10 mins in breakout rooms in your teams to prepare your arguments before beginning the debate. This week's debate will be in support of/against the following statement:
"Should cultivated meat be regulated as a novel food product, and what impact could this have on the future acceptance and commercialization of this alternative protein source?"
Further Resources
General
Cultivated meat - Good Food Institute [Webpage, 3 mins]
The science of cultivated meat - Good Food Institute [Webpage, 25 mins]
Cultivated Meat Modelling Consortium - of particular interest to anyone with a computer modelling background [Webpage]
Cellular agriculture in the UK: a review - Stephens & Ellis (2020)
Tissue Engineering for Clean Meat Production - Ben Arye and Levenberg (2019) [Paper, 1 hour]
Sensorial and Nutritional Aspects of Cultured Meat in Comparison to Traditional Meat: Much to Be Inferred - Fraeye et al. (2020)
Cellular agriculture in the UK: a review - Stephens & Ellis (2020)
The Red to Green Podcast - Season 1: Cultured Meat and Cellular Agriculture (2020)
Cultured Meat and Future Foods Show - Alex Shirazi [Podcast Series]
Podcast
The Red to Green Podcast - Season 1: Cultured Meat and Cellular Agriculture (2020)
The Red to Green Podcast - Season 3: Promoting Alternative Proteins (2021)
Cultured Meat and Future Foods Show - Alex Shirazi [Podcast Series]
Regulation
Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) - US Food & Drug Administration [Webpage]
Alternative proteins and EU food law - Lähteenmäki-Uutela et al. (2021) [Paper]
Safety of Alternative Protein - Singapore Food Agency [Webpage]
Novel foods authorisation guidance - UK Food Standards Agency [Webpage]
Bringing cultured meat to market: Technical, socio-political, and regulatory challenges in cellular agriculture - Stephens et al. (2018) [Paper, 25 mins]
Consumer Acceptance
Consumer acceptance of cultured meat: A systematic review - Bryant & Barnett (2020) [Paper, 45 mins]
Sensorial and Nutritional Aspects of Cultured Meat in Comparison to Traditional Meat: Much to Be Inferred - Fraeye et al. (2020)
Business Landscape and Projections
GFI State of the Industry: Cultivated meat video, slides and report [1hr]
Food for Thought: The Protein Transformation - BCG and Blue Horizon (2021) [Report]
Cultivated meat: Out of the lab, into the frying pan - McKinsey (2021) [Report]
The Business of Cultured Meat - Choudhury et al. (2020) [Paper]
Cell lines
Deep dive: Cultivated meat cell lines - GFI [Webpage]
Cell lines for cultured meat & fermentation & Slides - MIT Cell Ag [Lecture, 06:34 to 46:23, 40 mins]
Fetal programming in meat production - Du et al. (2015)
Media
Deep dive: Cultivated meat cell culture media - GFI [Webpage]
Media formulation for cultured meat & fermentation & Slides - MIT Cell Ag [Lecture, 26:08 to 1:20:58, 55 mins]
An analysis of culture medium costs and production volumes for cell-based meat - Specht (2019)
Scaffolding
Deep dive: Cultivated meat scaffolding - GFI [Webpage]
Scaffolds for cultured meat & Slides - MIT Cell Ag [Lecture, 00:00 to 44:46, 45 mins]
Scaffolding Biomaterials for 3D Cultivated Meat: Prospects and Challenges - Bomkamp et al. (2021)
Microcarriers for upscaling cultured meat production - Bodiou et al. (2020)
Textured soy protein scaffolds enable the generation of three-dimensional bovine skeletal muscle tissue for cell-based meat - Ben-Arye et al. (2020)
Biomaterials based strategies for skeletal muscle tissue engineering: Existing technologies and future trends - Qazi et al. (2015)
Bioreactors
Deep dive: Cultivated meat bioprocess design - GFI [Webpage]
Bioreactors for cultured meat & fermentation & Slides - MIT Cell Ag [Lecture, 10:36 to 33:47, 23 mins]
Bioprocess Design Considerations for Cultured Meat Production With a Focus on the Expansion Bioreactor - Allan et al. (2019)
Opportunities for applying biomedical production and manufacturing methods to the development of the clean meat industry - Specht et al. (2018)
Downstream Processing
Downstream processing, regulation and entrepreneurship & Slides - MIT Cell Ag [Lecture, 02:00 to 56:47, 54 mins]