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cultured meat

March 30, 2020

New Study Puts Cell-based Beef Grown on Soy Scaffolding to the Test

A study published today in the scientific journal Nature Food outlines a new way to give cell-based meat a realistic, well, meaty texture. In the study, which was authored by researchers from Israeli cultured meat company Aleph Farms and the Technion Institute of Technology, Israel, describe tests of a new 3D scaffold made of soy protein on which animal tissue can be grown. (Thanks for the tip, CNET.)

The scientists tested out the scaffold with bovine cells to create a sample that looked like beef muscle tissue. The scaffold is porous, which gives the animal cells space to latch on and grow their own interweaving matrix of tissue. It’s also edible and, since it’s made from soy, provides additional protein. Tasters in the study noted that the final product accurately mimicked the texture of beef and had a “meaty flavour.”

For those who don’t nerd out studying next-gen alternative protein, texture is one of the biggest hurdles facing consumer adoption of cell-based meat. Scientists may already be able to grow muscle and fat tissues, but putting them together in a way that emulates the texture of meat is a much trickier issue. That’s why most of the samples of cultured meat and seafood displayed during culinary demos thus far — shrimp dumplings from Shiok Meats, chicken nuggets from JUST, and beef burgers from Mosa Meat — have the texture of ground meat.

However, companies and scientists around the world are experimenting with new ways to grow animal tissue cells. Aleph Farms, whose researchers helped write the aforementioned study, has successfully grown cell-based steak, albeit in very thin cuts. Memphis Meats’ technology allows it to grow pretty realistic-looking cuts of cultured chicken. Atlast Foods uses mycelium (mushrooms roots) to create edible scaffolds on which to grow muscle cuts like beef. Researchers are also experimenting with materials like spinach, gelatin, and even LEGOs as cultured meat scaffolding material.

We’re still likely several years from tasting cell-based meat ourselves, no matter the texture. Before it can hit the U.S. market, cultured meat has to gain regulatory approval from both the FDA and the USDA — and we don’t know if the timeline might be slowed down by the current global pandemic. Looking on the bright side: maybe that equates to more time for researchers to continue to solve the cultured meat texture problem.

February 4, 2020

Aleph Farms Launches Educational Complex, Gen Z Board to Destigmatize Cultured Meat

Cultured meat (or meat grown outside the animal) has been making headlines lately — but when it comes to general consumer awareness, companies still have a long way to go.

That’s the disconnect that Aleph Farms is trying to bridge with two new initiatives it announced today. First, the Israeli startup, which is growing cell-based steak, announced in a press release today that it’s opening an educational complex next to its Israeli production facility to give the public a more in-depth view of cultured meat. Literally. The center will allow people to actually see how the company grows its steak cells.

You can’t just waltz right in to peek behind the curtain, though. Interested parties have to submit a request to tour the facility. According to a press release, the center will admit groups of up to 20 people, and visitor priority will be given to “student delegations, academy, non-governmental and non-profit organizations.” As far as I know, this will be the first such official visitor center for a cell-based meat company.

Aleph Farms’ slaughter-free steaks [Photo: Afik Gabay]

Aleph Farms is putting special emphasis on the student angle — and younger people in general. The startup also announced today that it had launched something called a “Z-Board.” This advisory board is made up entirely of Generation Z (that is, people under 25). Z-Board members will “be partners in Aleph’s vision of developing a sustainable food system and building a transparent relationship with consumers and young communities.”

It’s not exactly clear how Aleph’s Z-Board will do all of those things (Leading social media campaigns? Giving insight into Gen Z purchasing behavior?) However, it is telling that the Israeli company is so intent on targeting younger consumers. Gen Z not only has significant buying power, they’re also the ones who will likely be the most open to trying cell-based meat. The demographic is also more highly motivated by ethical and environmental concerns than older groups, both of which could lead them to support cultured meat.

Aleph Farms has been taking big steps to grow its footprint over the past year. Last May the company announced it had grown muscle tissue in space, just a few months after it closed a $12 million fundraise.

Compared to those tidbits, news of a visitor center and Gen Z-centered board may seem pretty lackluster. However, I think it illustrates how Aleph Farms is playing the long game. The startup realizes that cultured meat will face a myriad of challenges in its trek towards the market, from scaling to cost to regulation. With its new initiatives, Aleph Farms is working to ensure that consumer understanding and acceptance isn’t one of them.

January 22, 2020

Memphis Meats Raises $161M, Doubling Global Investment in Cultured Meat

Today Memphis Meats, a Berkeley, CA-based startup making cell-based meat, announced it has closed a $161 million Series B funding round. The round was led by SoftBank Group, Norwest and Temasek, with participation from big names like Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Kimbal Musk, Cargill, Vulcan Capital, Fifty Years, and more. In total, Memphis Meats has raised just over $180 million.

Talk about some serious moneys. According to an email from the Good Food Institute, this massive raise more than doubles the total amount invested in cultured meat globally (up until now, all companies combined had only raised $155 million).

With its fresh capital, Memphis Meats plans to build a pilot production facility and continue to push towards launching its first cell-based product.

As to when that will be . . . we don’t exactly know. Despite having the most funding of any cultured meat company, Memphis Meats still has yet to announce when it expects to launch its first product — or even what that product will be.

When I asked David Kay, Memphis Meats’ Senior Communications Manager, at SKS 2019 back in October, he said that there are two reasons they’re holding back on a concrete launch date. First, they want to wait until they can guarantee that their product is both tasty and scalable, so as not to scare off any curious consumers. Second — and perhaps more importantly — they’re going to wait until regulatory frameworks for cultured meat are solidly established.

According to multiple experts I’ve spoken to in the cell ag field, regulatory hurdles are the main reason that cell-based meat and seafood has not already gone to market (and one of the reasons it might first be sold in Asia). As the first cellular agriculture company in the U.S., Memphis Meats is operating with an abundance of caution so as not to derail the regulatory approval process. In fact, the startup is one of the founders of a new coalition to speed up cell-based meats’ path to market.

It may not have announced plans about when it’ll bring its meat to market, but Memphis is clearly already planning for a future where it’ll make massive amounts of product. The company joins BlueNalu and Israel-based Future Meat Technologies, both of whom have also announced plans to build large facilities to produce massive quantities of cell-based meat and seafood.

With $161 million more in its pocket, that future is looking a lot closer for Memphis Meats.

November 25, 2019

Avant Meats Has First Public Taste Test of Cultured Fish Maw in Hong Kong

For many Western consumers, “fish maw” is an unfamiliar foodstuff. However, in China and other surrounding regions, the ingredient, which is technically the dried swim bladders of large fish like sturgeon, is considered a delicacy. For that reason, it’s both extremely expensive and leading to extreme overfishing. There’s even a black market for the stuff.

In Hong Kong, startup Avant Meats is finding a more sustainable way to feed hunger for fish maw by growing it outside the animal. The company got one step closer to that goal last month, when they did the first public taste test of their cultured fish maw at the Future Food Summit at Asia Society Hong Kong.

The fish maw, grown from cells from a croaker fish, was embedded in a potato ball which was then deep-fried. Obviously we didn’t get to taste it ourselves (sadly), but in a video sent to The Spoon taste testers noted the ball’s chewy, gelatinous texture, a hallmark of fish maw. Texture is one of the biggest hurdles for cell-based meat, so if Avant Meats has indeed nailed it that could serve them well as they head to market.

When I spoke with Avant Meats co-founder and CEO Carrie Chan back in March, she explained that they had decided to focus on fish maw as their first product because of it’s simple composition, which allows them to speed up R&D, scale quickly, and come to market at a lower price point. Another reason they chose to focus on fish maw is because of its popularity with consumers in China and Hong Kong, their initial target demographic. However, according to a press release sent to The Spoon, their next product will be a fish filet that is intended for both Eastern and Western menus.

This year has been a busy one for cultured meat companies in Asia. Back in March Shiok Meat debuted its cell-based shrimp in the startup’s home country of Singapore, and Japan-based Integriculture recently did a taste test of cultured foie gras.

American companies like Memphis Meats, JUST, and Wild Type have also done several tastings of their own cell-based products, some on significantly larger scales. However, since cell-based (cultivated?) meat will likely debut in Asia, it’s exciting to see the increase in cultured meat and seafood activity in the area — especially for products developed specifically to appeal to Asian palates.

Avant Meats has raised an undisclosed pre-seed round and has a team of five in its Hong Kong HQ. They’re hoping to reach pilot production by late 2022/early 2023.

October 10, 2019

Israeli Startup Future Meat Technologies Raises $14M Series A to Grow More Meat from Animal Cells

Today Future Meat Technologies announced it has closed a $14 million Series A funding round led by S2G Ventures and Emerald Technology Ventures, with participation from Manta Ray Ventures, Bits x Bites, and investor Henry Soesanto. This brings Future Meat’s total funding to $16.2 million.

Israel-based Future Meat makes a variety of meats, including beef and chicken, directly from animal cells. The company made waves in 2018 when it snagged a $2.2 million investment from Tyson Ventures. Future Meat’s Series A is the second largest investment round in the cultured meat sector to date, after Memphis Meats’ $17 million fundraise in 2017.

According to a press release from the company, Future Meat will funnel their new funding into R&D as well as construction on what they call “the world’s first cultured meat pilot production facility,” which they hope will begin operations in 2020. The startup is aiming to start selling what it calls “hybrid products,” which I’m guessing will be a combination of cell-based and traditional or plant-based meat, at a competitive cost level with traditional meat by 2021. It’ll then follow that with cultured meat products priced at under $10 per pound by 2022.

Future Meat’s cell-based chicken vs. farmed chicken. (Photo: Yaakov Nahmias)

One thing Future Meat didn’t mention in the press release, however, is how it plans to deal with regulatory hurdles. As I discussed with Lou Cooperhouse of BlueNalu and David Kay of Memphis Meats at SKS 2019 this week, a lack of regulatory standards is the main thing standing in the way of bringing cultured meat to market. At least in the U.S., where the FDA and USDA will jointly regulate the new technology, we have a few years to go before we’ll be able to purchase cell-based meat.

But that’s where its location — Israel — could be a major boon. Israel is a leader in tissue engineering, which means it could be more willing to speed up the regulatory process and get cultured meat to market faster. The country also currently imports the majority of its meat, despite its prioritization of food security and safety. Accelerating the entry of cultured meat and seafood to market could help the country bring more of its protein development within its borders.

Israel has yet to establish any regulatory guidelines for the sale of cultured meat, though it’s currently home to two other later-stage cultured meat startups: the aforementioned Aleph Farms and SuperMeat. The latter company has partnered with Israeli meat producer Soglowek to receive a share of its profits for product development.

Building the world’s first cultured meat production facility in the next few years is an extremely ambitious goal. However, as someone who covers this space a lot, it’s refreshing to see companies deviate from the company line of “we’ll see” and give concrete go-to-market timelines and pricing details. Future Meat may be reaching for the stars, but at least they’ve got $14 million to help them get that much closer.

October 7, 2019

Aleph Farms Says it Has Grown Meat Cells in Space

Israeli lab-grown food company Aleph Farms on Monday claimed a world’s, or rather, a galaxy’s first, announcing that it has successfully grown small-scale muscle tissue on the International Space Station, which the company points out is “248 miles away from any natural resources.”

Aleph Farms says it uses the natural process of muscle-tissue regeneration in a lab setting to grow its steaks. The Sept. 26 experiment was conducted in the Russian segment of the ISS, using a 3D bioprinter developed by Russia’s 3D Bioprinting Solutions. The U.S.’s Meal Source Technologies and Finless Foods also collaborated on the experiment.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka conducting the experiment on the ISS. (Courtesy Aleph Farms)

Not only does the experiment prove that astronauts may one day grow their own steaks, the company says, but it shows that Aleph’s technology could be used anywhere on Earth, despite access to water and other resources. Growing cows for slaughter is one of the most resource-heavy food production processes for the planet, which is why many startups are seeking to replace beef, whether through cultivated or plant-based meat.

“In space, we don’t have 10,000 or 15,000 liters of water available to produce one kilogram of beef,” Didier Toubia, co-founder and CEO of Aleph Farms, said in the press release. “This joint experiment marks a significant first step toward achieving our vision to ensure food security for generations to come, while preserving our natural resources.”

While Aleph had Earth’s climate crisis in mind when conducting this experiment, 30 Japanese companies launched a consortium this year to figure out how to feed people in space. But hopefully, all of the solutions currently in the works will mean we won’t have to flee to another planet for survival.

August 29, 2019

New Coalition Forms to Bring Cultured Meat to Market Faster

Today five cellular agriculture and aquaculture companies announced that they have formed a new coalition to educate and advocate for cultured meat — that is, meat or seafood grown outside the animal.

Called the Alliance for Meat, Poultry and Seafood Innovation (AMPS Innovation), the group consists of cellular aquaculture companies BlueNalu and Finless Foods and cell-based meat companies Fork & Goode, JUST, and Memphis Meats.

The goal of the coalition is to twofold. They want to provide resources to educate consumers on what exactly cell-based meat is and its health and environmental footprint. But to get to that, they’ll first have to tackle their other goal: to get cell-based meat and fish approved by regulators.

According to a press release sent to the Spoon:

In the coming months, AMPS Innovation intends to engage policymakers and stakeholders to educate them on their products in addition to working with Congress, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration as they continue to build out a regulatory framework for meat, poultry and seafood that is grown directly from animal cells, rather than harvested from the animals themselves.

Basically, AMPS Innovation will act as a mouthpiece and knowledge expert for the larger cellular agriculture industry, pushing for regulatory acceptance needed to bring cultured meat to market.

As of now, the regulatory pathway for cell-based animal products is still pretty nebulous. Last year the FDA and USDA agreed that they would jointly regulate cultured meat; the FDA will oversee animal cell collection and initial cell growth, while the USDA will be in charge of large-scale production labeling. It’s still unclear at exactly what point in the process that handoff will take place, and there’s no timeline about when the governmental bodies will actually approve cultured meat for sale.

Cell-based meat will make it to market; with the amount of interest around and capital invested in cell ag companies, that seems inevitable. At that point AMPS Innovation will likely pivot to focus more on educating consumers who are wary of eating meat grown in a lab — and pushing back against big meat and farming coalitions that don’t want them edging in on their sales.

AMPS Innovation is already building its case. In addition to resources such as high-res media images and descriptions about the cell-based meat production process, their website also has a page called “Terms that are accurate” (kind of an aggressive way to label a glossary, IMHO). The page states that terms like “Meat / poultry / seafood” or “meat / poultry / seafood products” are applicable to cell-based meat, poultry, and seafood, since they are made from animals and real animal flesh.

Big Meat is not going to like that. Farming groups and large meat corporations are already aggressively pushing for labeling restrictions for both plant-based and cell-based meat, even though the latter has yet to make it to market. AMPS Innovation clearly understands to gain regulatory approval, they’ll have to fight not only skeptical regulatory bodies, but also traditional animal agriculture companies with boatloads of money and governmental support.

The timing is right for AMPS Innovation. As the list of companies making cell-based meat and seafood grows, their messaging is becoming more fragmented. They need a unified voice with which to answer questions and advocate for their cause — both now as they start gearing up to advocate for regulatory acceptance, and later as they try to win over consumers.

June 11, 2019

Some Say Lab-Grown Insects Are the Food of the Future. But Will People Eat Them?

Over half of U.S. consumers say that they would not eat food made with cricket flour. Only a third of diners in the U.S. and U.K. would take a taste of cell-based meat (that is, meat grown in a lab). So why has there suddenly been so much buzz about how the future of food is lab-grown insects? And is it, actually?

The driving force is a piece in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems by researchers from Tufts University. It suggests that cultured insects (that is, bug cells grown in a lab) are a sustainable source of protein we should be paying more attention to.

According to the paper, invertebrate cell cultures require fewer resources and are more adaptable than mammalian or avian cultures. They can also grow with serum-free media, which makes them significantly cheaper to produce.

This February a new study raised questions about whether cell-based meat was actually better for the environment than traditional animal agriculture. Unlike most cultured meats, however, cultured insect cells require fewer resources (like cooling and electricity), so it’s significantly more sustainable.

Plenty of people have advocated insects as an environmentally friendly protein source, even before cellular agriculture came on the scene. Insects require significantly less land and water than cattle and emit far fewer greenhouses gases, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). They produce quickly, have a variety of flavor profiles, also boast an enviable nutritional profile.

But there’s one big problem: the “ick” factor. While roughly 2 billion people around the world consume insects regularly, many Westerners are still grossed out by the thought of eating bugs. A few startups like Chirp’s (which makes cricket chips and protein powder) and Exo (which makes cricket protein bars) have had success selling insect-laden CPG products and ants and water bugs grace menus at Michelin-starred restaurants, but they’re still an anomaly. Edible insect companies are even having a tough time finding employees willing to work to harvest the creepy crawlies.

That’s where the lab aspect could have a difference. Not in the cost of growing insect protein — it’s quite cheap to produce them outside the lab — but in perception. Sure, not everyone wants to eat a full-on cricket complete with wings and legs (though Seattle Mariner’s fans do!). But they’re probably more willing to eat insect protein sourced from a lab. All the more so when they learn about insects’ health benefits: high levels of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, and minerals.

That’s not to say people will necessarily want to bite into a lab-grown bug burger anytime soon. (Even if they did, we’re still a few years from even being able to make one.) Instead, I envision a future where cell-based insect protein could act as a partial meat replacement in processed foods like sausages or nuggets — similar to what Better Meat Co. is doing, only with bugs instead of wheat protein. Cultured insect protein could also combine with plant-based meat to make it more realistic in texture, flavor, and nutrition profile.

No matter what form its in, it’ll take a while for Westerners to accept insects as an acceptable source of protein — if they accept it at all. But the recent wave of interest in cultured meat makes me hopeful that insects could be getting their heydey. Perhaps, as the Frontiers article notes, this is “an opportune moment to revisit insect cells as a nutrition source.” Just as a supplement instead of a stand-alone food product.

May 14, 2019

Aleph Farms Raises $12M for its Slaughter-Free Steak

Though plant-based meat has grabbed most of the headlines in alternative protein this year, thanks to Beyond Meat going public and Impossible Foods scaling up, lab-grown or cultured meat is having a banner year of its own. Case in point: Aleph Farms announced today that it has raised a $12 million Series A round of funding led by VisVires New Protein, with Cargill Protein and M-Industry participating as well.

Israel-based Aleph Farms is looking to make full-on steaks, complete with the same structure and texture as traditional meat. As my colleague, Catherine Lamb wrote last year:

To do that, [Aleph’s] scientists are working on growing four types of cells: muscle, fat, blood vessels, and connective tissue. While those last two might not sound very appetizing, Toubia said that they’re critical to replicating the texture of meat. Once they cultivate the various types of cells, they place them on scaffolds which act as a framework for the cells to cling onto. That way, the four types of cells can grow together into a finished product with the shape of steak — not just blobs of separate cell types in petri dishes that have to be manually combined.

Last December, Aleph unveiled what it called the first lab-grown minute steak: a steak made from cow cells in a bioreactor. Though the steak was only a few inches long and a few centimeters thick, The Wall Street Journal tried one, noting that it “passes” for the real thing. Aleph’s new money will go towards accelerating the development of this earlier prototype into a commercial product.

It should be noted that this is the second slaughter-free meat investment for Cargill, the U.S.’ third-largest meat producer. Cargill, along with chicken giant, Tyson, has also put money into Memphis Meats. Both companies are angling to be their own disruptor, rather than leaving that to some upstart startup.

The investment comes at a time when consumers are reconsidering the ethical and environmental impact of eating traditional meat. While sales of plant-burgers are booming right now, we are still a ways away from lab-grown meat reaching our dinner plates. Memphis Meats and Mosa Meat claim they’ll have their cultured meat to market by 2021, and JUST has said it will debut its cultured meat in Asia by the end of this year.

Before slaughter-free meat does hit the market, it will have to tackle its own set of hurdles like how it will be labeled and regulated. Most of all, however, these cultured meat companies will need to scale production to hit the mass market at a price point consumers can afford. Because unlike meat, money can’t be grown in a lab.

April 19, 2019

Ecovative’s Mushroom Foam Could Solve Alternative Meat’s Texture Problem

When you bite into a juicy piece of steak — or any meat — a big part of the tasting experience is texture. It’s one of meat’s most defining characteristics, which also makes it really, really hard to accurately imitate. Alterna-meat companies are trying, but all too often their efforts fall short and we’re left with gummy vegan sausages or tough “chik’n” strips.

The secret to texture might lie in mushrooms. Or, more specifically, what lies beneath mushrooms. Ecovative, a biotech company based in upstate New York, is using mushroom roots (AKA mycelium) to give meat alternatives a better, meatier texture.

The company first developed a mycelium platform 12 years ago to use as sustainable packaging material. Then, a few years ago, they started developing a marshmallow-like mycelium foam, called “Atlast,” which could be used as scaffolding for tissue engineering. Ecovative co-founder and CEO Eben Bayer told me over the phone that they can grow the mycelium into a shape that emulates meat fibers, then infuse it with plant-based fats, flavors, and seasonings. In short: they can use it as a scaffold to grow meat.

This sort of scaffolding technology is really needed right now. Texture is a huge barrier to widespread acceptance for meat alternatives, both cell-based and plant-based. On the whole, cellular agriculture companies have figured out how to replicate animal cells. But as of now they can basically only copy and mush cells together, so they’re limited to making meats that don’t require much structure, like ground beef. Similarly, plant-based meat is struggling to replicate the exact texture of meat, cheese, and fish.

Ecovative isn’t the only company working on this problem. Redefine Meat is using 3D printing to try to make plants emulate the texture of beef. Researchers at Penn State are using LEGO pieces to spin edible scaffolds made of cornstarch, and others are experimenting with spinach leaves to help grow tissue.

But Ecovative’s platform has a couple of advantages. Mycelium is super easy and fast to grow: Bayer said it only takes nine days to grow a sizeable sheet of the mushroom foam. It’s also very cheap to make and extremely versatile. Scientists can either grow the foam into an intended shape — like, say, a pork chop — or cut and shape it after the sheet is ready.

Bayer told me that Ecovative will sell its mycelium foam to other businesses. He wouldn’t give specifics on pricing or when exactly they would head to market, but told me that the company will have “stuff to taste by this year.”

Sure, right now we’ve got vegan burgers that have a texture pretty close to the real thing. But what about bacon, or beef tenderloin, or steak? Until there are indistinguishable plant-based (or, down the road, cell-based) options for all cuts of meat, not just burgers, it’ll be hard to get carnivores on board with meat alternatives. Hopefully Ecovative’s mycelium can help crack the texture code.

April 1, 2019

For Cultured Meat, Scaffolding is the Next Big Hurdle. Could LEGOs Hold the Answer?

As of now, cultured meat comes out looking one way: like mush. That’s because scientists have figured out ways to replicate animal muscle, fat, and tissue cells, but not how to make them grow to make fibers. In short, we can grow a hamburger, but not something like a steak, which requires a more solid physical form.

But scientists are working to change this, developing scaffolding technology to help those muscle cells grow in formations that would mimic the chew of pork chops, chicken strips, and, of course, steak.

Most recently — and most exciting to my inner five-year-old — is the LEGO method. Researchers from Penn State have developed a new technique to spin cornstarch fibers into an edible scaffold using LEGO pieces. The scaffold could then, at least theoretically, be used to grow cultured meat.

According to Dr. Gregory Ziegler, a food science professor at Penn State who’s been working on the project, to make the scaffold they use a technique called “electrospinning,” where scientists apply electricity to an edible starch solution as it dispenses from a nozzle, creating long threads that adhere to a LEGO “mat”. Ziegler told me that they chose to use LEGO pieces because they’re cheap and also plastic, so they don’t conduct electricity.

They’ve been developing the technique for five years but only recently figured out how to align the aforementioned threads to make longer fibers. Now they’re starting to look into applications for the technology — including lab-grown meat.

They haven’t actually tried growing any sort of meat on these electrospun scaffolds. Yet. Ziegler said the next step is to get more funding so they can try and efficiently scale scaffolding production to lower the cost of the technology. Eventually Ziegler plans that scaffolds will be made with some material other than LEGOs (sorry). They then want to execute some tests to see if the scaffolds are indeed as useful for cultured meat as Ziegler predicts they will be.

Photo: Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Ziegler’s method might be eye-catching, but he’s far from the only one trying to develop scaffolds for cell-based meat. In fact, scientists are experimenting with all manner of materials to try and make an edible ground for cellular agriculture.

One popular material is plants. By emptying plants of all their living material and leaving a sort of husk of cell walls, scientists can use their structure as a natural (and edible) blueprint for animal tissue. Worcester Polytechnic Institute is experimenting with spinach leaves as a scaffold for tissue growth (see above), and others are trying jackfruit and artichokes.

Fungi are also a natural fit. Startup Ecovative has developed a foam-like substance made out of mycelium, or delicate mushroom roots. Ecovative’s mushroom scaffolds can be grown in only 9 days and are tender enough to eat. They won’t dissolve, however, which could affect the overall flavor and texture of the end product.

Still, scaffolding isn’t the only way to create texture with cultured meat. Some companies are looking into 3D printing as a method to form “steaks” and more with animal tissue cells.

Of course, this technology is kind of moot until cell-based meat companies figure out how to clear those pesky regulatory hurdles and finally get the stuff to market. But as cultured meat becomes more widely available, and more affordable, consumer acceptance is going to play a larger and larger role. And it’ll be a lot easier to get the hardcore carnivores on board if they can try a cell-based steak that actually tastes — and chews — like the real thing.

March 28, 2019

Singapore to Invest $535 million in R&D, including Cultured Meat and Robots

Cell-based meat is about to get another big shot in the arm.

Yesterday the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Singapore announced the RIE2020 plan, which will allocate S$724 million ($535 million) to boost the city-state’s economy and to bolster R&D efforts in cell therapy manufacturing, digital technology (like AI and robotics), and sustainable urban food production.

Up to S$144 million (~$106 million) of the funds in RIE2020 will be allocated to the new Singapore Food Story R&D program, which will focus on urban agriculture, cultured meat, and microbial protein production. This isn’t super surprising, since we recently made the prediction that cell-based meat will debut in Asia first, thanks to more flexible government regulation and high consumer interest.

In fact, there’s already at least one cultured meat company (that we know of) operating out of Singapore. Shiok Meats is developing cell-based crustaceans and just became the first clean meat company to be accepted into the Y Combinator accelerator program. Hopefully this influx of funds from the government will help cell-based meat companies scale up and become more affordable more quickly.

Singapore recently announced a goal to produce 30 percent of its own food by 2030. Growing meat in labs is a good place to start. Scientists are apparently also working on breeding fast-growing, disease-resistant tilapia that can survive in Singapore’s brackish water, and figuring out ways to use microbes to grow protein.

There were far fewer details on what type of robotics and automation Singapore will be using its new funds to develop, but hopefully some of it will be related to the food industry. Maybe food delivery robots? Articulating arms to cook burgers or make lattes? Self-driving food running bots? There’s a lot of potential.

If you’re curious about the future of food robotics, join us for ArticulATE on April 16th! We’ll have executives from Google Brain, Sony, CafeX, Albertson’s, and lots more discussing how automation will shape the way we discover, cook, and consume food. It’ll be a really fun and engaging summit — tickets are on sale here.

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