Cellular agriculture (e.g. Meat production from cells grown in bioreactorsTechnological advances are occurring that make meeting the planet’s food needs sustainably (rather than derived from farmed animals) a viable option. Industrial animal agriculture is currently the main source of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, and laboratory meat could be an alternative to reduce this problem.
Significant progress has been made by researchers at the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA, USA), directed by David Kaplan. created bovine (beef) muscle cells that produce their own growth factorsA very important step that can significantly reduce production costs.
In laboratory experiments or cultured meats, growth factors bind to receptors on the cell surface and produce a signal for the cells to grow and become different types of mature cells. But, These growth factors represent a high economic cost in cultured meat production.so giving them up will make it substantially cheaper.
In this study published in the journal Sustainability of Cell ReportsResearchers modified stem cells to produce their own cells fibroblast growth factor (FGF)It stimulates the growth of skeletal muscle cells, the kind found in any steak or burger.
“FGF is not exactly a nutrient,” said Andrew Stout, scientific director of the Tufts Cellular Agriculture Commercialization Laboratory and principal investigator of the project. “This is more like an instruction for cells to behave in a certain way. What we did was we engineered bovine muscle stem cells to produce these growth factors. and activate the signaling pathways themselves,” he explained.
Up to 90% of the cost of cultured meat
Until now, these growth factors had to be added to the surrounding liquid or medium. Growth factors produced from recombinant proteins and sold by industrial suppliers account for most of the cost of production cultured meat (up to 90% or more).
Since growth factors do not last long in cell culture systems, they must be renewed every few days. This limits the ability to offer consumers an economically affordable product. Removing this ‘content’ from the growing medium provides huge cost savings.
“While we have significantly reduced the cost of the media, there is still some improvement work that needs to be done to make it industry ready,” Stout said. “We’ve seen slower growth with engineered cells, but I think we can overcome that.” Envisaged strategies would include altering the level and timing of FGF expression in the cell or altering other cell growth pathways.
““With this method, we do not add foreign genes to the cell, we only edit and express existing genes.” to see if they could improve the growth of muscle cells for meat production. Such a system could also lead to simpler regulatory approval of the final food product, since regulation in the case of foreign gene insertion is more stringent than in native gene editing.
Apply to other types of meat
Will the strategy work for other types of meat? chicken, pork or fish? Stout thinks so. “The growth of all muscle cells and many other cell types normally depends on FGF,” the scientist said. This system will also be applied to other meats, but there may be some differences as the best growth factors occur in different species, Stout said.
“Work is ongoing at TUCCA and other centers to improve cultured meat technology, including investigating ways to reduce the cost of nutrients in growing environments and Improve the texture, flavor and nutritional content of meat“said Kaplan.
“The products have already received regulatory approval for consumption in the U.S. and worldwide, but costs and availability remain limiting factors. “I believe advances like this will bring us closer to seeing affordable cultured meats in our local supermarkets in the coming years,” he added.
Reference work: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949790623000095?via%3Dihub
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