Cellular Agriculture

Commonly caused by the poor welfare conditions of livestock raised in factory farm settings, the spread of foodborne illnesses as well as meat-borne bacterial infections pose significant threats to global food safety and public health. In fact, nearly 80% of antibiotics used in the United States were given to farm animals, which induces the selection of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) strains. To put the enormity of this issue in perspective, by 2050, AMR is estimated to be responsible for more deaths than cancer and cost $2.9 trillion annually to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries.

To combat the prevalence of foodborne illnesses, carbon emissions, and waste as a result of factory farming, scientists in the last decade have begun to explore the possibilities of animal-free meat alternatives, otherwise known as cell-based meat or “clean meat”. Through advancements in stem cells and tissue engineering – the same tissue engineering used for regenerative medicine – food science labs are able to mimic the physical and biochemical features of meat in a sterile environment. Specifically, the process entails co-culturing various cell types on a 3D scaffold to produce muscle fibers, fat deposits, blood vessels, and a dense extracellular matrix (ECM).

Additionally, like a brewery fine-tunes a beer recipe by tinkering with the fermentation process, in-vitro cells can be manipulated to alter various traits of the meat, potentially unlocking new flavors and textures for unprecedented culinary experiences. To expand the field of customizable meat products, cell culture platforms like CellPort help food science labs track each step for safer, more reproducible results. CellPort lets cellular agriculture labs upload & customize their “recipes” and manage the end-to-end process on one platform, with built-in GMP compliance and reporting for FDA audits. Get in touch with us to learn how CellPort is powering the “clean meat” wave today.

Cell scaffolding – a key component of tissue engineering – supports the cultivation, expansion, and differentiation of animal-free meat alternatives. Typically made of biomaterials, cell scaffolds act as the structural support for cell attachment and tissue proliferation. However, it is difficult for scientists to determine which scaffold will enable them to yield the most edible, low-cost, and sustainable cell-based meat, due to significant differences in architecture, cyto- and tissue compatibility, bioactivity, and mechanical properties.

Over the past two decades, two major cell scaffold constructs and scaffolding approaches have evolved, each with its respective principles, techniques, advantages, and disadvantages, to expedite the development of final cultured meat products. These scaffolding approaches are:
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Both cell scaffolding approaches require ample time and disciplined feeding schedules to produce usable structures for cell meat growth. Moreover, media formulation based on cell line identification is a sensitive process that requires in-depth tracking and data analysis to achieve commercial scale and viability. Lab management platforms like CellPort allow cellular agriculture labs to track every detail, auto-schedule events like media preparation and equipment calibration, and ensure compliance to GMP and FDA standards through self-tracked protocols with built-in standardization & validation rules.