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The increasing global population and demand for meat have led to the need to find sustainable and viable alternatives to traditional production methods. One potential solution is cultivated meat (CM), which involves producing meat in vitro from animal stem cells to generate products with nutritional and sensory properties similar to conventional livestock‐derived meat. This article examines current approaches to CM production and investigates how using insect cells could enhance the process. Cell sources are a critical issue in CM production, alongside advances in culture media, bioreactors for scalability, and scaffold development. Insect cells, compared to commonly used mammalian cells, may offer advantages in overcoming technological challenges that hinder cell culture development and expansion. The objective of this review is to emphasize how insects, as a cell source for CM production, could offer a more sustainable option. A crucial aspect for achieving this goal is a comprehensive understanding of the physiology of muscle and fat cells. In this work, the characteristics of insect and mammalian cells are compared, focusing particularly on muscle and fat cell development, regulatory pathways, hormonal regulation, and tissue composition. Insect cells are a promising source for CM, offering a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Select cultivated meat (CM) products have been approved for sale and consumption in Singapore, the USA, and Israel. Palatability, a term encompassing the taste, texture, and aroma of foods, plays a central role in the appeal of foods. Currently, the consumer appeal of CM is relatively low, including low perceptions of palatability and a variable willingness to try. The palatability of meat arises from the unique chemistry and structure of its cellular constituents: muscle, fat, and stroma. Natural post-mortem processes, deliberate post-processing modifications, and various cooking methods are crucial in determining the palatability of agricultural meat (AM); replicating these processes could improve the palatability of CM. Cultivated meat (CM) has transitioned from a futuristic concept to a present reality, with select products approved for consumption and sale in Singapore, Israel, and the USA. This evolution has emphasized scalable, cost-effective, and sustainable production, as well as navigation of regulatory pathways. As CM develops, a crucial challenge lies in delivering products that are highly appealing to consumers. Central to this will be refining CM palatability, a term encompassing food's taste, aroma, texture, tenderness, juiciness, and color. We explore the scientific and engineering approaches to producing palatable CM, including cell-line selection, cell differentiation, and post-processing techniques. This includes a discussion of the structural and compositional properties of meat that are intrinsically coupled to palatability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low consumer acceptance emerges as one important barrier to the introduction of cultivated meat, a novel food which offers an opportunity for more sustainable and ethical meat production. Due to the motives for impression management and self‐esteem, one factor that could contribute to people's acceptance of cultivated meat is their perceptions of other individuals who consume cultivated meat. In the current research, two online survey studies with 393 Singaporean undergraduate students and 401 American adults were conducted to explore the perceptions of cultivated meat eaters. In both studies, participants were randomly assigned to read one of three profiles that described a cultivated meat eater, a conventional meat eater, and a vegetarian. Then they rated the target on a list of traits. In Study 1, cultivated meat eaters were evaluated as more eco‐friendly than conventional meat eaters, and less pure than vegetarians. In Study 2, cultivated meat eaters were perceived as more eco‐friendly than conventional meat eaters, and less healthy than vegetarians; further, the participants tended to believe that others' general perception of cultivated meat eaters is slightly negative, and their belief about others' perception was strongly correlated with their acceptance of cultivated meat. Practical implications and future directions were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reliance on animal husbandry for protein has caused environmental, social and ethical challenges worldwide, yet the demand for animal‐based food continues to rise. Despite the increasing attention from scholars and professionals on the potential of cultured meat (CM) as a viable alternative protein source, the ensuing scholarly work still lacks coherence and is incomplete and fragmented. Its success also depends heavily on customer acceptance. This study therefore examined peer‐reviewed literature on consumers' perceptions and acceptance of CM. A comprehensive search was conducted on ScienceDirect, Google Scholar and Scopus databases between 2017 and 2022, yielding 54 papers that met the selection criteria. The qualitative synthesis conducted revealed seven themes that had the highest influence on consumers' acceptance of CM. The themes identified were (i) attitudes and traits, (ii) situational impact, (iii) information and nomenclature, (iv) CM properties, (v) risk–benefit perception, (vi) familiarity and awareness and (vii) competition with other alternative proteins. This review also identified demographic predictors of consumers who are most likely to accept CM. The review found that although consumers are curious and willing to try CM, failure to address personal attitudes and traits may lead to failure in adoption. It was also found that strategies that include emotional responses are more effective in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultivated meat, an advancement in cellular agriculture, holds promise in addressing environmental, ethical, and health challenges associated with traditional meat production. Utilizing tissue engineering principles, cultivated meat production employs biomaterials and technologies to create cell-based structures by introducing cells into a biocompatible scaffold, mimicking tissue organization. Among the cell sources used for producing muscle-like tissue for cultivated meats, primary adult stem cells like muscle satellite cells exhibit robust capabilities for proliferation and differentiation into myocytes, presenting a promising avenue for cultivated meat production. Evolutionarily optimized for growth in a 3D microenvironment, these cells benefit from the biochemical and biophysical cues provided by the extracellular matrix (ECM), regulating cell organization, interactions, and behavior. While plant protein-based scaffolds have been explored for their utilization for cultivated meat, they lack the biological cues for animal cells unless functionalized. Conversely, a decellularized bovine placental tissue ECM, processed from discarded birth tissue, achieves the biological functionalities of animal tissue ECM without harming animals. In this study, collagen and total ECM were prepared from decellularized bovine placental tissues. The collagen content was determined to be approximately 70% and 40% in isolated collagen and ECM, respectively. The resulting porous scaffolds, crosslinked through a dehydrothermal (DHT) crosslinking method without chemical crosslinking agents, supported the growth of bovine myoblasts. ECM scaffolds exhibited superior compatibility and stability compared to collagen scaffolds. In an attempt to make cultivate meat constructs, bovine myoblasts were cultured in steak-shaped ECM scaffolds for about 50 days. The resulting construct not only resembled muscle tissues but also displayed high cellularity with indications of myogenic differentiation. Furthermore, the meat constructs were cookable and able to sustain the grilling/frying. Our study is the first to utilize a unique bovine placentome-derived ECM scaffold to create a muscle tissue-like meat construct, demonstrating a promising and sustainable option for cultivated meat production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultivated meat, also known as cell-based or clean meat, utilizes mesenchymal stem cells to cultivate mature cell types like adipocytes, which are pivotal for imparting the desired taste and texture. The delivery of differentiated cells, crucial in cultivated meat production, is facilitated through extensive exploration of 3D culturing techniques mimicking physiological environments. In this study, we investigated the adipogenic differentiation potential of bovine umbilical cord stem cells (BUSCs), sourced from discarded birth tissue, and assessed the feasibility of delivering differentiated cells for cultivated meat using gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) as a carrier for adipose tissue. Various adipogenic inducers, previously reported to be effective for human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), were evaluated individually or in combination for their efficacy in promoting the adipogenesis of BUSCs. Surprisingly, while the traditional adipogenic inducers, including insulin, dexamethasone, isobutylmethylxantine (IBMX), indomethacin, and rosiglitazone, showed no significant effect on the adipogenic differentiation of BUSCs, efficient differentiation was achieved in the presence of a fatty acid cocktail. Furthermore, we explored methods for the delivery of BUSCs. Differentiated cells were delivered either encapsulated in GelMA hydrogel or populated on the surface of GelMA microparticles (MPs) as the adipose component of cultivated meat. Our findings reveal that after adipogenic induction, the lipid production per cell was comparable when cultured either within hydrogel or on MPs. However, GelMA-MPs supported better cell growth compared to hydrogel encapsulation. Consequently, the overall lipid production is higher when BUSCs are delivered via GelMA-MPs rather than encapsulation. This study not only systematically evaluated the impact of common adipogenic inducers on BUSCs, but also identified GelMA-MPs as a promising carrier for delivering bovine adipocytes for cultivated meat production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how individuals' prior beliefs (i.e. food neophilia and food neophobia) serve as precursors to the influence of the presumed media influence model in shaping their perceptions of cultivated meat. An online survey of 1031 Singapore residents revealed that food neophobia and food neophilia are positively related to individuals' media attention to risk and benefit messages about cultivated meat, respectively. Furthermore, individuals' media attention to these risk and benefit messages about cultivated meat was positively related to their presumed influence of such messages on others, which subsequently affected their own attitudes and perceived social norms regarding the consumption of cultivated meat. Lastly, individuals' own attitudes and perceived social norms were found to be positively associated with their intentions to consume cultivated meat. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a Biosemiotics of Cultivated Meat: Cell-Based Food and Its Positioning Between Nature and Culture The production of cultivated meat, which allows companies to produce meat without raising or killing animals, may potentially solve many of today’s problems connected to meat production. However, cultivated meat is too often seen as “artificial”, “synthetic” and in the end “against” something else. This also raises issues concerning the ethics of communication, very often based on this misleading opposition. This article challenges the philosophical stance at the basis of this misrepresentation and suggests an advanced vision enabling a new and more balanced vision. It starts from the idea of the relationship between Nature and Culture. Theoretically, thus, this article draws on biosemiotics, and specifically on Sebeok and Martinelli, who prefigure a different relationship between Nature and Culture, where Culture is not separated from or in contrast to Nature,but is a part of it. Beyond culture, this article even philosophically supports the idea that cultivated meat is not an absolute novelty suddenly landed on the planet Earth and contrasting all the notions and the rules regulating the cycle of meat. It is instead a further step of a long cultural process leading to consider non-human and human animals as citizens of the same environment. In this light, cultured meat is more simply a new kind of meat, the last type of it so far: a product that is more related to traditional meat than old rigid paradigms could theorize. It is under these new perspective, thus, that cultivated meat may be communicated in a more informed and balanced way.

ABSTRACT: With its more sustainable production mode and higher healthy food supplying, cultivated meat is gradually regarded as the promising alternative meat food in future by human beings. Most of the countries in the planet had participated in the cut-throat competition for sustainable protein searching, especially for the regions with low food self-sufficiency rate. In this paper, by reviewing the commercial market participation, product development stage, and technical research progress related to cultivated meat in detail, we demonstrated the industrialization progress of cultivated meat and explored the challenges of cultivated meat in the near future. 1) Seeded cell and serum free medium were the basic raw materials, which were directly related to the food safety regulation, production cost control and productivity improvement; 2) Bioreactor and regulation were the cornerstone of industrialization, which were closely related to the capacity expansion, product marketing; 3) Technological improvements in taste, texture, safety, scale, cost were the foundation of realizing product iterative upgrade and market acceptance.

Introduction: Cultivated meat has received growing attention since claims were made that cultivated meat can be produced more ethically and sustainably than the current meat production. However, there are still major challenges in the development of cell lines, scaffolding, growth media, and bioprocess, which need to be overcome to reach industrial production levels. Numerous technological innovations have been proposed to overcome these challenges but they have rarely been evaluated with regard to their social sustainability. Consequently, it remains unclear if and how cultivated meat would contribute towards creating inclusive food systems. Methods: To bring more clarity, the study identifies different technological solutions that are used or developed for production of cultivated meat and identifies the positive and negative claims about the expected contributions of these technological solutions to social inclusion in food systems, using evidence from the literature review and 11 expert interviews. An innovation radar for cultivated meat is proposed to visualise the variety of technological innovations and the claims about their expected contributions to social sustainability. Results: The technologies in the areas cell line development, scaffolding, growth media, and bioprocess are expected to have an impact on inclusion in consumption of cultivated meat. Some cell innovations are expected to raise cognitive barriers due to complex technologies that might be difficult for the consumer to understand. Cultural barriers are expected to be raised by cell innovation entailing genetic engineering and medium innovation using FBS or animal components, which is considered to harm animals. Further, regulatory barriers are expected in the EU if genetic modification is used in the production process, which concerns the areas cells, media, and scaffolding. The innovations for scaffolds are expected to mainly lower cost and cultural barriers since most technologies are already used in the food industry. Bioprocess innovations promise to lower cost barriers, however it must be considered, that most of the collected data for innovations in the bioprocess domain are based on assumptions. Discussion: The study concludes that at this point in time, the most socially sustainable approach to cultivated meat production is not obvious. Under the current technological state of the art, it is not thinkable that production and consumption of cultivated meat could be socially inclusive. As it remains poorly understood if technologies for cultivated meat production could raise or lower barriers to inclusive consumption and production, further research is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultivated meat refers to edible meat obtained by proliferating cells without killing livestock in a laboratory. The selection of donor animals is a crucial factor for efficient cell culture production. Hanwoo is a native Korean taurine cattle breed raised as livestock in Korea since before 2000 B.C. Cells isolated from Hanwoo, which has little genetic diversity, are expected to be advantageous in cell culture because of the existence of fewer individual differences. However, cells collected from Hanwoo are in a state where efficient culture conditions have not been established. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effects of mimicking an in vivo environment on the proliferation and differentiation of Hanwoo muscle satellite cells. The culture conditions consisted of CON (37°C/20% O2), T1 (37°C/2% O2), T2 (39°C/20% O2), and T3 (39°C/2% O2). Cell numbers decreased and expression levels of PAX7 and MYF5 decreased at a temperature of 39°C (p < 0.05). Conversely, 2% oxygen increased the number of cells and expression levels of PAX7 and MYF5 (p < 0.05). A temperature of 39°C inhibited the proliferation of Hanwoo muscle satellite cells by reducing the expression of PAX7 and MYF5 (p < 0.05). Conversely, 2% oxygen promoted the proliferation of Hanwoo muscle satellite cells by enhancing the expression of PAX7 and MYF5 (p < 0.05). During differentiation, a temperature of 39°C improved the myotube area and fusion index (p < 0.05). The RT-qPCR and Western blotting results revealed that a culture temperature of 39°C increased expression levels of the MYH2 gene and DES and MYOG proteins (p < 0.05). Additionally, an interactive condition increased expression levels of MYOD1, DES, and MYOG genes (p < 0.05). These results indicated that a temperature of 39°C promoted the differentiation of Hanwoo muscle satellite cells by increasing DES and MYOG protein expression. Thus, the production of cultivated meat using Hanwoo muscle satellite cells is expected to be efficient under 2% oxygen for proliferation and 39°C for differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, intensive efforts made to harness tissue engineering techniques to develop cultivated meat. Sustainable meat substitutes are a promising solution for the expected world food shortage; however, multiple challenges still pose barriers to the mass, low‐cost production of nutritious cultivated meat. This work is focused on the development of edible nutritious 3D scaffolds for the production of bovine muscle tissue for cultivated meat. Protein‐rich scaffolds composed of pea protein are prepared using mold‐casting and bioprinting techniques. The plant‐based scaffolds supported bovine satellite cells' attachment, growth, and differentiation into muscle tissue without the need for coating agents or high‐cost components. The presented pea‐protein‐rich scaffolds are of high nutritional value, with low allergenicity, and can be processed under low fabrication costs, which can significantly advance the commercial production of nutritious and sustainable cultivated meat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a media discourse analysis, this study draws upon quantitative and qualitative data to gain insights into how new food categories are made and negotiated through mainstream and social media. The focus is on alternative proteins, a growing food sector largely driven by the current unsustainable industrial animal farming. Plant-based meats have long existed as alternative sources to meat, and insects have been historically eaten in parts of the world; yet, the crisis of climate change and increasing sophistication of technology have spurred the development of innovations like cultivated meat, microalgae, and fermentation protein. To better understand how food categories are redefined, this study focuses on Singapore media and its framing of these foods, considered novel here for their potential to revolutionize future food sources by how they are made and/or consumed. The contested views on the edibility and categorization of these novel foods signal resistance to Singapore's accelerated modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growth factors are commonly added to cell culture media in cellular agriculture to mimic the endogenous process of proliferation and differentiation of cells. Many of these growth factors are endogenous to humans and known to be present in the edible tissues and milk of food animals. However, there is little or no information on the use of growth factors intentionally added in food production before the advent of cultivated meat. Ten commonly used growth factors have been reviewed to include information on theirmode of action, bioavailability, occurrence in food and food animals, endogenous levels in humans, aswell as exposure and toxicological information drawn from relevant animal studies and human clinical trials with a focus on oral exposure. In addition, a comparison of homology of growth factors was done to compare the sequence homology of growth factors from humans and domestic animal species commonly consumed as food, such as bovine, porcine, and poultry. This information has been gathered as the starting point to determine the safety of use of growth factors in cultivated meat meant for human consumption. The change in levels of growth factors measured in human milk and bovinemilk after pasteurization and high-temperature treatment is discussed to give an indication of how commercial food processing can affect the levels of growth factors in food. The concept of substantial equivalence is also discussed together with a conservative exposure estimation. More work on how to integrate in silico assessments into the routine safety assessment of growth factors is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing global population and demand for meat have led to the need to find sustainable and viable alternatives to traditional production methods. One potential solution is cultivated meat (CM), which involves producing meat in vitro from animal stem cells to generate products with nutritional and sensory properties similar to conventional livestock‐derived meat. This article examines current approaches to CM production and investigates how using insect cells could enhance the process. Cell sources are a critical issue in CM production, alongside advances in culture media, bioreactors for scalability, and scaffold development. Insect cells, compared to commonly used mammalian cells, may offer advantages in overcoming technological challenges that hinder cell culture development and expansion. The objective of this review is to emphasize how insects, as a cell source for CM production, could offer a more sustainable option. A crucial aspect for achieving this goal is a comprehensive understanding of the physiology of muscle and fat cells. In this work, the characteristics of insect and mammalian cells are compared, focusing particularly on muscle and fat cell development, regulatory pathways, hormonal regulation, and tissue composition. Insect cells are a promising source for CM, offering a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative.

Cultivated meat, a sustainable alternative to traditional livestock farming, has gained attention for its potential environmental and health benefits. However, concerns about microplastic contamination pose challenges, especially when sourcing cells from marine organisms prone to microplastic bioaccumulation. Additionally, the pervasive presence of microplastics in laboratory settings, ingredients, and during the production, increases the risk of unintentional contamination. This study focused on Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) skeletal muscle cell lines to examine the effects of microplastic exposure, represented by fluorescent polyethylene microspheres (10-45 µm) on cell performance including cell proliferation, cell viability, gene expression, and differentiation processes critical for cultivated meat production. The results revealed significant impacts on cell attachment and proliferation at microplastic concentrations of 1 µg/mL, 10 µg/mL, and 50 µg/mL. Notably, the 10 µg/mL concentration exerted the most pronounced effects on cell viability during both attachment and proliferation phases. While the results indicated that both microplastic concentration and size influence cell viability, cell differentiation remained unaffected, and additional contributing factors require further investigation. These findings underscore the necessity of thoroughly exploring microplastic-cell interactions to ensure food safety and safeguard health within the burgeoning cultivated meat industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultured meat production requires microcarriers, hydrogels, and scaffolds for 3D growth and support. Co-culturing techniques of probiotic bacteria and cell cultures are available. Probiotic bacteria efficiently produce antimicrobial substances, hydrogels, and fibril scaffolds. Probiotic bacteria can be genetically manipulated to grow only when it serves the cell culture. Probiotic bacteria can be genetically manipulated to serve as biosensors for lactate production and to remove lactate waste. Introducing probiotic bacteria into cultured meat can improve the design, function, and cost production and should be further explored. Cultivated meat is emerging to replace traditional livestock industries, which have ecological costs, including land and water overuse and considerable carbon emissions. During cultivated meat production, mammalian cells can increase their numbers dramatically through self-renewal/proliferation and transform into mature cells, such as muscle or fat cells, through maturation/differentiation. Here, we address opportunities for introducing probiotic bacteria into the cultivated meat industry, including using them to produce renewable antimicrobials and scaffolding materials. We also offer solutions to challenges, including the growth of bacteria and mammalian cells, the effect of probiotic bacteria on production costs, and the effect of bacteria and their products on texture and taste. Our summary provides a promising framework for applying microbial composites in the cultivated meat industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populations in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) typically consume less than the recommended daily amount of protein. Alternative protein (AP) sources could help combat malnutrition, but this requires careful consideration of elements needed to further establish AP products in LMIC. Key considerations include technological, nutritional, safety, social, and economic challenges. This perspective analyzes these considerations in achieving dietary diversity in LMIC, using a combination of traditional and novel protein sources with high nutritional value, namely, soy, mycoprotein, and cultivated meat. Technological approaches to modulate the technofunctionality and bitter off-tastes of plant-sourced proteins facilitate processing and ensure consumer acceptance. Economic considerations for inputs, infrastructure for production, and transportation represent key elements to scale up AP. Dietary diversification is indispensable and LMIC cannot rely on plant proteins alone to provide adequate protein intake sustainably. Investments in infrastructure and innovation are urgently needed to offer diverse sources of protein in LMIC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agroecology has been proposed as a holistic approach to transform food systems that meet global food requirements with favorable environmental and social impacts. Agroecology relies on science, practices, and social movements that emphasize ecological principles, local knowledge, culture, and traditions to increase the sustainability and equity of the food system. Agroecological practices have demonstrated positive outcomes on food security and nutrition in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Agroecology principles can be applied across the food system and could facilitate the integration of certain alternative protein (AP) foods to address multiple issues. In this perspective, agroecological principles were analyzed to compare the suitability of different AP sources: unprocessed/minimally processed legumes, plant-based meats, edible insects, macroalgae (seaweed), fungal biomass, and cultivated meat. Considerations were identified for the feasibility of AP adoption in LMICs within an agroecological framework to provide nutrient-rich and sustainable diets while addressing other principles such as fairness and economic diversity. From this analysis, legumes, simplified plant-based meat analogs such as texturized plant proteins with minimal additives, edible insects, and macroalgae (location dependent) would make excellent nutritional contributions alongside animal-sourced food within LMICs within an agroecological framework. In contrast, highly processed plant-based meats, fungal biomass, and cultivated meat do not align well with agroecological principles for large-scale human consumption within LMICs. Furthermore, the production facilities to make these foods require robust capital investment and there may be issues related to who owns the intellectual property of these technologies. The NOVA classification system categorizes food based on the degree of processing. Our assessment suggests that foods with lower NOVA classification of unprocessed and minimally processed best fit the agroecological principles related to nutrition, agroecosystem, and societal demands for sustainable food systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionCultivated meat has received growing attention since claims were made that cultivated meat can be produced more ethically and sustainably than the current meat production. However, there are still major challenges in the development of cell lines, scaffolding, growth media, and bioprocess, which need to be overcome to reach industrial production levels. Numerous technological innovations have been proposed to overcome these challenges but they have rarely been evaluated with regard to their social sustainability. Consequently, it remains unclear if and how cultivated meat would contribute towards creating inclusive food systems.MethodsTo bring more clarity, the study identifies different technological solutions that are used or developed for production of cultivated meat and identifies the positive and negative claims about the expected contributions of these technological solutions to social inclusion in food systems, using evidence from the literature review and 11 expert interviews. An innovation radar for cultivated meat is proposed to visualise the variety of technological innovations and the claims about their expected contributions to social sustainability.ResultsThe technologies in the areas cell line development, scaffolding, growth media, and bioprocess are expected to have an impact on inclusion in consumption of cultivated meat. Some cell innovations are expected to raise cognitive barriers due to complex technologies that might be difficult for the consumer to understand. Cultural barriers are expected to be raised by cell innovation entailing genetic engineering and medium innovation using FBS or animal components, which is considered to harm animals. Further, regulatory barriers are expected in the EU if genetic modification is used in the production process, which concerns the areas cells, media, and scaffolding. The innovations for scaffolds are expected to mainly lower cost and cultural barriers since most technologies are already used in the food industry. Bioprocess innovations promise to lower cost barriers, however it must be considered, that most of the collected data for innovations in the bioprocess domain are based on assumptions.DiscussionThe study concludes that at this point in time, the most socially sustainable approach to cultivated meat production is not obvious. Under the current technological state of the art, it is not thinkable that production and consumption of cultivated meat could be socially inclusive. As it remains poorly understood if technologies for cultivated meat production could raise or lower barriers to inclusive consumption and production, further research is needed.

This study set out to assess if presenting cultivated chicken in the context of a familiar meal, in a familiar dining setting, would motivate repeat consumption and recommendation. A survey of 107 diners was conducted at Huber's Butchery and Bistro in Singapore – the world's first butchery to serve cultivated meat – from April to June 2023. The findings showed that eating cultivated chicken significantly boosted post-consumption acceptance levels. In addition, cultivated chicken's tastiness may be a more important factor than its integration into a familiar meal or dish in fostering repeat consumption. Implications for the cultivated meat industry, limitations, and suggestions for future research are addressed.

Cultivated meat relies on the production of muscle tissue using cell culture techniques. Myogenesis is a cellular differentiation process in which muscle satellite cells (SC) transform into myoblasts, or myotubes. The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a pivotal role in meat quality, myogenesis, SC proliferation, and muscle tissue development to replicate meat texture. Because fibrotic differentiation and ECM are involved in the myogenic process, we aimed to induce myogenesis in SC using fibrotic differentiation of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSC). ADSC, fibroblasts (FC), and SC were isolated from the back fat, ear margin tissues, and femur muscle tissues, respectively, of a 1-year-old Berkshire piglet. ADSC were treated with connective tissue growth factor (CTGF; 0, 12.5, 25, or 50 ng/mL) for 72 h to induce fibrotic differentiation. Conditioned media from differentiated ADSC and FC were prepared and labeled CA-CM and F-CM, respectively. SC were exposed to CA-CM or F-CM to assess their effects on myogenesis. The results demonstrated α-smooth muscle actin and collagen I as the optimal markers for assessing fibrotic differentiation in ADSC. CTGF significantly elevated both mRNA and protein expression of α-smooth muscle actin and collagen I (P < 0.05), suggesting that CTGF acts as an inducer of fibrotic differentiation in ADSC. Moreover, CTGF elevated the expression of ECM components (laminin, fibronectin, and collagen I) in ADSC (P < 0.05). mRNA expression of myogenesis-related genes (MyoG, MyoD, Myf5, and Myf6) increased in SC exposed to both CA-CM and F-CM (P < 0.05). Our data revealed that fibrotic differentiation of ADSC increased ECM production, and ECM-containing conditioned medium induced myogenesis in SC. These findings indicate that ECM-containing conditioned medium is a good option for enhancing myogenesis in SC, with potential implications for cultivated meat production.

The growth and activity of adherent cells can be enabled or enhanced through attachment to a solid surface. For food and beverage production processes, these solid supports should be food-grade, low-cost, and biocompatible with the cell of interest. Solid supports that are edible can be a part of the final product, thus simplifying downstream operations in the production of fermented beverages and lab grown meat. We provide proof of concept that edible filamentous fungal pellets can function as a solid support by assessing the attachment and growth of two model cell types: yeast, and myoblast cells. The filamentous fungus Aspergillus oryzae was cultured to produce pellets with 0.9 mm diameter. These fugal pellets were inactivated by heat or chemical methods and characterized physicochemically. Chemically inactivated pellets had the lowest dry mass and were the most hydrophobic. Scanning electron microscope images showed that both yeast and myoblast cells naturally adhered to the fungal pellets. Over 48 h of incubation, immobilized yeast increased five-fold on active pellets and six-fold on heat-inactivated pellets. Myoblast cells proliferated best on heat-treated pellets, where viable cell activity increased almost two-fold, whereas on chemically inactivated pellets myoblasts did not increase in the cell mass. These results support the use of filamentous fungi as a novel cell immobilization biomaterial for food technology applications.

With the rapid development of the cultivated meat industry, large-scale cell culture technology applied to cultivated meat production has received extensive attention. In this study, two microcarriers, Cytodex 1 and 3D TableTrix™, were used for suspension culture of myoblasts in spinner flasks to select a more suitable one for large-scale culture of myoblasts, and then the effects of different culture conditions on the large-scale culture of cells were explored. The microscopic results showed that Cytodex 1 was spheres with a smooth surface and no macroporous structure, and 3D TableTrix™ was irregular spheres with a porous surface and large pores. The results of cell culture in spinner flasks showed that the cells grew on 3D TableTrix™ more efficiently, and after 10 days of culture, the cell yield was 8.97 × 105 cells/mL. The optimal conditions for cell attachment were intermittent stirring at 40 r/min for 10 min with intervals of 50 min. The best cell culture efficiency was obtained by using cell inoculation density of 1 × 105 cells/mL, microcarrier density of 2 mg/mL, agitation speed of 40 r/min, and initial culture serum concentration of 20% as well as replacing the medium with a new one containing 10% serum (V/V) after 24 h of culture, and replacing 50% of the medium with a new one with every other day. By bead to bead transfer of the microcarriers, the cells were transferred to a 2 L spinner flask. Finally, 1.07 × 109 cells were harvested with a survival rate of more than 95%. Microcarriers loaded with cells could be cryopreserved and resuscitated, and no significant differences in proliferation status and morphology were observed compared with thawed cells. The optimized microcarrier based culture process will have promising applications in the industrial scale production of cultivated meat.

Cultivated meat, an advancement in cellular agriculture, holds promise in addressing environmental, ethical, and health challenges associated with traditional meat production. Utilizing tissue engineering principles, cultivated meat production employs biomaterials and technologies to create cell-based structures by introducing cells into a biocompatible scaffold, mimicking tissue organization. Among the cell sources used for producing muscle-like tissue for cultivated meats, primary adult stem cells like muscle satellite cells exhibit robust capabilities for proliferation and differentiation into myocytes, presenting a promising avenue for cultivated meat production. Evolutionarily optimized for growth in a 3D microenvironment, these cells benefit from the biochemical and biophysical cues provided by the extracellular matrix (ECM), regulating cell organization, interactions, and behavior. While plant protein-based scaffolds have been explored for their utilization for cultivated meat, they lack the biological cues for animal cells unless functionalized. Conversely, a decellularized bovine placental tissue ECM, processed from discarded birth tissue, achieves the biological functionalities of animal tissue ECM without harming animals. In this study, collagen and total ECM were prepared from decellularized bovine placental tissues. The collagen content was determined to be approximately 70% and 40% in isolated collagen and ECM, respectively. The resulting porous scaffolds, crosslinked through a dehydrothermal (DHT) crosslinking method without chemical crosslinking agents, supported the growth of bovine myoblasts. ECM scaffolds exhibited superior compatibility and stability compared to collagen scaffolds. In an attempt to make cultivate meat constructs, bovine myoblasts were cultured in steak-shaped ECM scaffolds for about 50 days. The resulting construct not only resembled muscle tissues but also displayed high cellularity with indications of myogenic differentiation. Furthermore, the meat constructs were cookable and able to sustain the grilling/frying. Our study is the first to utilize a unique bovine placentome-derived ECM scaffold to create a muscle tissue-like meat construct, demonstrating a promising and sustainable option for cultivated meat production.

Highly productive and efficient biomass growth in bioreactors is an essential bioprocess outcome in many industrial applications. Large-scale biomass creation in the cultivated meat industry will be critical given the demand size in the conventional meat and seafood sectors. However, many challenges must be overcome before cultivated meat and seafood become commercially viable, including cost reductions of cell culture media, bioprocess design innovation and optimization, and scaling up in the longer term. Computational modeling and simulation can help to address many of these challenges and can be a far cheaper and faster alternative to performing physical experiments. Computer modeling can also help researchers pinpoint system interactions that matter and guide researchers to identify those parameters that should be changed in later designs for eventual optimization. This work developed a computational model that combines agent-based modeling and computational fluid dynamics to study biomass growth as a function of the operative conditions of stirred-tank bioreactors. The focus was to analyze how the mechanical stress induced by rotor speed can influence the growth of cells attached to spherical microcarriers. The computer simulation results reproduced observations from physical experiments that high rotor speeds reduce cell growth rates and induce cell death under the high mechanical stresses induced at these stir speeds. Moreover, the results suggest that modeling cell death and cell quiescence is required to recapitulate these observations from physical experiments. These simulation outcomes are the first step towards more comprehensive models that, combined with experimental observations, will improve our knowledge of biomass production in bioreactors for cultivated meat and other industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, seafood accounts for nearly 20% of annual animal protein consumption, and its production is critical to ensure global food and nutrition security. The increase in seafood demand has resulted in overfishing and caused a decrease in aquatic species. Aquaculture, or fish farming, includes breeding, growing, and harvesting fish and marine products in a controlled environment. It is the first solution to overfishing. To supply sufficient seafood for the growing demand, the alternative seafood industry provides promising opportunities. Cell-based seafood refers to seafood that is produced using cell and tissue culture without slaughtering the animal. This method, called cellular agriculture, has been adopted from regenerative medicine that uses advanced isolation and cultivation techniques of tissue culture. Cellular seafood should be efficiently produced to serve as a credible alternative to traditional seafood. It should mimic seafood in all its physical sensations, such as visual appearance, smell, texture, and taste. The efficient culture of cells that produce cellular seafood primarily depends on stem cell culture conditions, including incubation temperature and medium composition. Many of these variables should be known and optimized for each species. Overall, this review underscores the importance of further research in cell culture to advance the field of cultured seafood and promote sustainable seafood production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global demand for animal protein is on the rise, but many practices common in conventional production are no longer scalable due to environmental impact, public health concerns, and fragility of food systems. For these reasons and more, a pressing need has arisen for sustainable, nutritious, and animal welfare–conscious sources of protein, spurring research dedicated to the production of cultivated meat. Meat mainly consists of muscle, fat, and connective tissue, all of which can be sourced and differentiated from pluripotent stem cells to resemble their nutritional values in muscle tissue. In this paper, we outline the approach that we took to derive bovine embryonic stem cell lines (bESCs) and to characterise them using FACS (fluorescence-activated cell sorting), real-time PCR and immunofluorescence staining. We show their cell growth profile and genetic stability and demonstrate their induced differentiation to mesoderm committed cells. In addition, we discuss our strategy for preparation of master and working cell banks, by which we can expand and grow cells in suspension in quantities suitable for mass production. Consequently, we demonstrate the potential benefits of harnessing bESCs in the production of cultivated meat. Global demand for sustainable, nutritious, and animal welfare–conscious protein sources encourages research dedicated to the production of cultivated meat. In this paper, we outline the approach that we took to produce bovine embryonic stem cell lines and present our strategy to expand and grow cells in quantities suitable for mass production. Our work demonstrates the potential benefits of harnessing bESCs in the production of cultivated meat. Photograph by Dr. Irena Vertkin (researcher, R&D department, Aleph Farms). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The growing world population, public awareness of animal welfare, environmental impacts and changes in meat consumption leads to the search for novel approaches to food production. Novel foods include products with a new or specifically modified molecular structure, foods made from microorganisms, fungi, algae or insects, as well as from animal cell or tissue cultures. The latter approach is known by various names: "clean meat", "in vitro meat" and "cell‐cultured" or "(cell‐)cultivated meat". Here, cells isolated from agronomically important species are expanded ex vivo to produce cell biomass used in unstructured meat or to grow and differentiate cells on scaffolds to produce structured meat analogues. Despite the fast‐growing field and high financial interest from investors and governments, cultivated meat production still faces challenges ranging from cell source choice, affordable expansion, use of cruelty‐free and food‐grade media, regulatory issues and consumer acceptance. This overview discusses the above challenges and possible solutions and strategies in the production of cultivated meat. The review integrates multifaceted historical, social, and technological insights of the field, and provides both an engaging comprehensive introduction for general interested and a robust perspective for experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultured meat, produced by culturing animal cells in vitro, is gaining increasing interest. The first products obtained using this technology were authorized for human consumption in Singapore and the United States, and more are likely to follow in other parts of the world. Therefore, it is important to assess the attitudes toward such meat in various populations and understand the grounds for its acceptance and rejection. The present cross-sectional online study of adult Poles (n = 1553) aimed to evaluate knowledge of cultured meat, the main reasons and fears associated with its production and consumption, and willingness to buy it and factors influencing such willingness. Most respondents (63%) were familiar with the concept of cultured meat, and 54% declared to purchase it when available. However, concerns over safety were expressed by individuals accepting (39%) and rejecting (49%) such meat. The main motivations for choosing it included limiting animal suffering (76%) and environmental impacts of meat consumption (67%), although over half of responders willing to buy these products were driven by curiosity (58%). Multiple logistic regression revealed that odds (OR; 95%CI) for accepting cultured meat were significantly increased for adults aged 18–40 (1.8; 1.2–2.7); women (1.8; 1.2–2.7); meat eaters (8.7; 5.6–13.6); individuals convinced that animal farming adversely affects the climate (7.6; 3.1–18.3), surface waters (3.1; 1.2–8.1), and air quality (3.0; 1.2–7.6); those familiar with cultured meat concept (4.2, 2.2–8.4); and those revealing high openness to experience (1.7; 1.2–2.4). The results highlight that the Polish population may be moderately ready to accept cultured meat and identify the groups resistant to accepting it. Well-designed and transparent promotion of these products is required to increase the general public's understanding of the potential benefits and challenges of cultured meat technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultivated meat is a nascent technology that aims to create an environmentally and animal-friendly alternative to conventional meat. Producing skeletal muscle tissue in an animal-free system allowing for high levels of myofusion and maturation is important for the nutritional and sensorial value of cultivated meat. Alginate is an attractive biomaterial to support muscle formation as it is food-safe, sustainable and cheap and can be crosslinked using non-toxic methods. Although alginate can be functionalized to promote cell attachment, limitations in its mechanical properties, including form, viscosity, and stress relaxation, hinder the cellular capacity for myogenic differentiation and maturation in alginate-based hydrogels. Here, we show that the addition of electrospun short-stranded zein fibers increased hydrogel degradation, resulting in faster compaction, improved cell–gel interaction, and enhanced alignment of bovine muscle precursor cells. We conclude that fiber-hydrogel composites are a promising approach to support optimal formation of 3D constructs, by improving tissue stability and thus prolonging culture duration. Together, this improves muscle-related protein content by facilitating myogenic differentiation and priming muscle organoids for maturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the introduction of the cultivated meat burger in 2013, numerous discussions have transpired between researchers and consumers, manifesting in various forms such as academic publications, opinions on personal websites and interactions on social platforms. For Muslim consumers, a primary concern revolves around the halal status of cultivated meat, given the pivotal role of adhering to a halal diet as a divine obligation in their lives. Therefore, this article seeks to systematically review the existing literature on cultivated meat from an Islamic perspective as articulated by Muslim scholars, whether these perspectives are issued by an established fatwa organisation or representations of personal views. The sources incorporated into this analysis span from academic publications, newspaper articles, fatwa bodies, personal websites and interviews. Employing thematic analysis, five principal themes were discerned within the discourse among Muslim scholars regarding cultivated meat: (i) the ontological status of cultivated meat, (ii) the status and source of stem cells used in the cultivation process, (iii) the theological implications of cultivated meat production on altering God's creation, (iv) foundational principles for halal cultivated meat production, and (v) the contemporary necessity of cultivated meat from the perspective of al-maqasid al-shariah. It is duly recommended that international fatwa organisations such as the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA) engage in discussions and deliberations on this matter of growing significance within the food industry. The fatwas and resolutions issued by IIFA are frequently cited as the most recognised authority in many Islamic countries.

Cultivated meat, a sustainable alternative to traditional livestock farming, has gained attention for its potential environmental and health benefits. However, concerns about microplastic contamination pose challenges, especially when sourcing cells from marine organisms prone to microplastic bioaccumulation. Additionally, the pervasive presence of microplastics in laboratory settings, ingredients, and during the production, increases the risk of unintentional contamination. This study focused on Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) skeletal muscle cell lines to examine the effects of microplastic exposure, represented by fluorescent polyethylene microspheres (10–45 µm) on cell performance including cell proliferation, cell viability, gene expression, and differentiation processes critical for cultivated meat production. The results revealed significant impacts on cell attachment and proliferation at microplastic concentrations of 1 μg/mL, 10 μg/mL, and 50 μg/mL. Notably, the 10 μg/mL concentration exerted the most pronounced effects on cell viability during both attachment and proliferation phases. While the results indicated that both microplastic concentration and size influence cell viability, cell differentiation remained unaffected, and additional contributing factors require further investigation. These findings underscore the necessity of thoroughly exploring microplastic-cell interactions to ensure food safety and safeguard health within the burgeoning cultivated meat industry.

Cultivated meat, also known as cell-based or clean meat, utilizes mesenchymal stem cells to cultivate mature cell types like adipocytes, which are pivotal for imparting the desired taste and texture. The delivery of differentiated cells, crucial in cultivated meat production, is facilitated through extensive exploration of 3D culturing techniques mimicking physiological environments. In this study, we investigated the adipogenic differentiation potential of bovine umbilical cord stem cells (BUSCs), sourced from discarded birth tissue, and assessed the feasibility of delivering differentiated cells for cultivated meat using gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) as a carrier for adipose tissue. Various adipogenic inducers, previously reported to be effective for human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), were evaluated individually or in combination for their efficacy in promoting the adipogenesis of BUSCs. Surprisingly, while the traditional adipogenic inducers, including insulin, dexamethasone, isobutylmethylxantine (IBMX), indomethacin, and rosiglitazone, showed no significant effect on the adipogenic differentiation of BUSCs, efficient differentiation was achieved in the presence of a fatty acid cocktail. Furthermore, we explored methods for the delivery of BUSCs. Differentiated cells were delivered either encapsulated in GelMA hydrogel or populated on the surface of GelMA microparticles (MPs) as the adipose component of cultivated meat. Our findings reveal that after adipogenic induction, the lipid production per cell was comparable when cultured either within hydrogel or on MPs. However, GelMA-MPs supported better cell growth compared to hydrogel encapsulation. Consequently, the overall lipid production is higher when BUSCs are delivered via GelMA-MPs rather than encapsulation. This study not only systematically evaluated the impact of common adipogenic inducers on BUSCs, but also identified GelMA-MPs as a promising carrier for delivering bovine adipocytes for cultivated meat production.

Cultivated meat (CM) is a disruptive technology that provides an alternative to animal protein. In this context, the Amazon manatee (Trichechus inunguis) emerges as an important case. Although it is illegal to hunt this large mammal, its meat continues to be consumed, causing several threats to its natural habitat. The aim of this study is to explore the impacts of introducing the Amazon manatee CM into the traditional meat value chain as a tool to aid the biodiversity of the Amazon Basin. Thus, we developed a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats matrix from the content analysis of 11 interviews conducted between October 2021 and May 2022. The interviewees were experts in different fields, ranging from financial analysts of novel food technologies to biologists, researchers, and others. We presented the theme of illegal hunting and its consequences during the interviews, followed by the CM process, and explained how the royalties from the sale of this innovative product could help to preserve Amazon biodiversity through the proposal of a new business model. The main findings suggest that the proposed model would produce good results, but the threat of a rebound effect from the consumption of wild animals was mentioned in most responses, especially by actors involved in conservation. The strengths and opportunities of this disruptive narrative mainly focused on preserving biodiversity and promoting environmental awareness, combining the conservation of wildlife and the consumption of novel food. The weaknesses included the lack of knowledge and the non-existent market. This framework is relevant for policymakers, nongovernmental organizations, and researchers seeking to improve the sustainability not only of the species found in the Amazon, but also around the world.

Cultivated meat products, generated by growing isolated skeletal muscle and fat tissue, offer the promise of a more sustainable and ethical alternative to traditional meat production. However, with cell culture media used to grow the cells accounting for 55–95% of the overall production cost, achieving true sustainability requires significant media optimization. One means of dealing with these high costs is the use of low-cost complex additives such as hydrolysates to provide a wide range of nutrients, from small molecules (metabolites) to growth factors and peptides. Despite their potential, most hydrolysate products remain poorly characterized and many are thought to suffer from persistent issues of high batch-to-batch variability. Although there have been a number of isolated efforts to determine metabolic profiles for a handful of hydrolysate products, we present the first attempt at a more comprehensive metabolomic characterization of nine different products (four plant and five yeast-based) from two to four different lots each.NMR analysis identified 90 unique metabolites, with only 15 metabolites common to all hydrolysate products (including eight of the nine essential amino acids), and 16 metabolites found in only a single hydrolysate product. The different hydrolysate products were found to have substantial differences in metabolite concentrations (as a fraction of overall mass), ranging from a high of 43% in yeast extract to a low of 14% in soy hydrolysates. The proportion of various metabolites also varied between products, with carbohydrate concentrations particularly high in soy hydrolysates and nucleosides more prominent in two of the yeast products. Overall, yeast extract generally had higher metabolite concentrations than all the other products, whereas both yeast extract and cotton had the largest variety of metabolites. A direct calculation of batch-to-batch variability revealed although there are significant differences between lots, these are largely driven by a relatively small fraction of compounds. This report will hopefully serve as a useful starting point for a more nuanced consideration of hydrolysate products in cell culture media optimization, both in the context of cultivated meat and beyond.

Summary: Cultivated meat (also known as cultured meat) is a promising technology that faces substantial cost barriers, which are currently driven by the price of media components. Particularly, growth factors such as fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) drive the cost of serum-free media for relevant cells, including muscle satellite cells. Here, we engineered immortalized bovine satellite cells (iBSCs) for inducible expression of FGF2 and/or mutant RasG12V to overcome media growth factor requirements through autocrine signaling. Engineered cells were able to proliferate over multiple passages in FGF2-free medium, thereby eliminating the need for this costly component. Additionally, cells maintained their myogenicity, albeit with reduced myotube formation. Ultimately, this offers a proof of principle for lower-cost cultured meat production through cell line engineering. Science for society: Cultivated meat is an emerging technology that aims to produce meat through cell culture rather than conventional animal agriculture. By decoupling meat from animals, cultivated meat is projected to dramatically reduce the environmental impact of meat while simultaneously improving animal welfare and human health. To date, however, cultivated meat production is hindered by high costs, which are driven by the cell culture media. In particular, recombinant growth-promoting factors such as fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) contribute a majority of the cost of these media. Here, we engineer bovine muscle stem cells to endogenously activate the growth-promoting signaling cascades that are typically triggered by exogenous FGF2, thereby eliminating the need for this costly media component. This approach offers a step toward engineering cultivated meat cells for expansion in recombinant protein-free media, an approach that would dramatically lower the cost of production.

Cell-cultured meat (CM) is a novel meat product grown in vitro from animal cells, widely framed as equivalent to conventional meat but presented as produced in a more sustainable way. Despite its limited availability for human consumption, consumer acceptance of CM (e.g., willingness to purchase and consume) has been extensively investigated. A key but under-investigated assumption of these studies is that CM’s sensory qualities are comparable to conventional, equivalent meat products. Therefore, the current review aims to clarify what is actually known about the sensory characteristics of CM and their potential impact on consumer acceptance. To this end, a structured scoping review of existing, peer-reviewed literature on the sensory evaluation of CM was conducted according to the PRISMA-ScR and Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines. Among the included studies (N = 26), only 5 conducted research activities that could be termed “sensory evaluation,” with only 4 of those 5 studies evaluating actual CM products in some form. The remaining 21 studies based their conclusions on the sensory characteristics of CM and consequent consumer acceptance to a set of hypothetical CM products and consumption experiences, often with explicitly positive information framing. In addition, many consumer acceptance studies in the literature have the explicit goal to increase the acceptance of CM, with some authors (researchers) acting as direct CM industry affiliates; this may be a source of bias on the level of consumer acceptance toward these products. By separating what is known about CM sensory characteristics and consumer acceptance from what is merely speculated, the current review reported realistic expectations of CM’s sensory characteristics within the promissory narratives of CM proponents.

Highly productive and efficient biomass growth in bioreactors is an essential bioprocess outcome in many industrial applications. Large-scale biomass creation in the cultivated meat industry will be critical given the demand size in the conventional meat and seafood sectors. However, many challenges must be overcome before cultivated meat and seafood become commercially viable, including cost reductions of cell culture media, bioprocess design innovation and optimization, and scaling up in the longer term. Computational modeling and simulation can help to address many of these challenges and can be a far cheaper and faster alternative to performing physical experiments. Computer modeling can also help researchers pinpoint system interactions that matter and guide researchers to identify those parameters that should be changed in later designs for eventual optimization. This work developed a computational model that combines agent-based modeling and computational fluid dynamics to study biomass growth as a function of the operative conditions of stirred-tank bioreactors. The focus was to analyze how the mechanical stress induced by rotor speed can influence the growth of cells attached to spherical microcarriers. The computer simulation results reproduced observations from physical experiments that high rotor speeds reduce cell growth rates and induce cell death under the high mechanical stresses induced at these stir speeds. Moreover, the results suggest that modeling cell death and cell quiescence is required to recapitulate these observations from physical experiments. These simulation outcomes are the first step towards more comprehensive models that, combined with experimental observations, will improve our knowledge of biomass production in bioreactors for cultivated meat and other industries.

Overcoming the challenge of creating thick, tissue-resembling muscle constructs is paramount in the field of cultivated meat production. This study investigates the remarkable potential of random cellulose acetate nanofibers (CAN) as a transformative scaffold for muscle tissue engineering (MTE), specifically in the context of cultivated meat applications. Through a comparative analysis between random and aligned CAN, utilizing C2C12 and H9c2 myoblasts, we unveil the unparalleled capabilities of random CAN in facilitating muscle differentiation, independent of differentiation media, by exploiting the YAP/TAZ-related mechanotransduction pathway. In addition, we have successfully developed a novel process for stacking cell-loaded CAN sheets, enabling the production of a three-dimensional meat product. C2C12 and H9c2 loaded CAN sheets were stacked (up to four layers) to form a ~300–400 μm thick tissue 2 cm in length, organized in a mesh of uniaxial aligned cells. To further demonstrate the effectiveness of this methodology for cultivated meat purposes, we have generated thick and viable constructs using chicken muscle satellite cells (cSCs) and random CAN. This groundbreaking discovery offers a cost-effective and biomimetic solution for cultivating and differentiating muscle cells, forging a crucial link between tissue engineering and the pursuit of sustainable and affordable cultivated meat production.

Abstract The growing world population, public awareness of animal welfare, environmental impacts and changes in meat consumption leads to the search for novel approaches to food production. Novel foods include products with a new or specifically modified molecular structure, foods made from microorganisms, fungi, algae or insects, as well as from animal cell or tissue cultures. The latter approach is known by various names: “clean meat”, “in vitro meat” and “cell‐cultured” or “(cell‐)cultivated meat”. Here, cells isolated from agronomically important species are expanded ex vivo to produce cell biomass used in unstructured meat or to grow and differentiate cells on scaffolds to produce structured meat analogues. Despite the fast‐growing field and high financial interest from investors and governments, cultivated meat production still faces challenges ranging from cell source choice, affordable expansion, use of cruelty‐free and food‐grade media, regulatory issues and consumer acceptance. This overview discusses the above challenges and possible solutions and strategies in the production of cultivated meat. The review integrates multifaceted historical, social, and technological insights of the field, and provides both an engaging comprehensive introduction for general interested and a robust perspective for experts.