Research

Our interdisciplinary scientists are working on seven linked research thrusts that will address the key barriers related to technological and social challenges in the cultivated meat production workflow.

Cell discovery and validation: Develop a suite of pluripotent and immortalized cell lines for optimal success in the cultivated meat value chain.

Media and growth factors: Develop several synergistic approaches to lower the cost of serum free media, growth factors, and thereby further improve the GHG-emissions reduction characteristics of cultivated meat.

Biomanufacturing and cell expansion: To develop several complimentary strategies to intensify cell culture in bioreactors by actively removing toxic metabolites.

Scaffold development: Develop dairy and/ or plant‐based scaffolds that not only provide structural strength and texture but also taste and nutritional requirements to supplement that provided by the cells and thereby reduce the GHG emissions budget of the cultivated meat.

Tissue engineering of macrostructure: Develop several complementary biofabrication strategies to form slab meat type configuration that combine skeletal muscle cells with the developed scaffolds.

Optimization: Optimize parameters affecting the outputs of each thrust areas to find efficiencies along the value chain, decrease production cost and reduce carbon footprint.

GE3LS: Conduct consumer surveys, perform life cycle analysis, techno-economic analysis, and comparative omics analysis of cultivated meat products with that of the farm-grown meat.