Cultured meat

1. Introduction
Cultured meat, also known as lab-grown meat, is the production of meat in-vitro using animal

derived cells being used on the basis of their growth rate. These cells are being used in cultured

meat by the process of proliferation and differentiation of muscle-derived stem cells. This

eliminates the need to slaughter animals at large scale to meet the needs of animal protein for

such a large population (Kim et al., 2024). Cultured meat has been an emerging trend since the

demand and consumption of meat has increased due to several environmental and ethical

concerns. The milestone was achieved in 2013 when Mark post tries to introduce first cultured

meat .

1.1 Advantages

Cultured meat has several advantages over the conventional meat as it once scales up would

produce large scale meat utilizing less amount of resources and they are rich source of amino

acids, fats, vitamins and minerals as of real meat. In order to have reliable resources of meat

from laboratory manipulation, meat should mimic real meat characteristics as a whole, such as

smell, taste, texture, and visual characteristics. The requirements for the lab-grown meat are

efficiency and growth rate. Types of cells being used also depend upon successful cultivation of

lab-grown meat i.e. pluripotent stem cells, multipotent progenitor cells and muscle satellite cells.

Muscle satellite cells are more proficient in culturing than these two as they can efficiently be

differentiated under controlled safety protocol.

1.2 Choice of cell source for culturing

Another important prospect in culturing meat depends on the choice of animal for the source of s

tem cells cultivation. As yield of the cultivated stem cells depends entirely on the health status of

donor cells. The important factors that need to be considered are the lifetime of stem cells and th

eir proliferation and differentiation ability. The harvesting efficiency and quality of muscle cells
being used should be focused in order to have a higher yield of cultivated meat. Other important

aspects to be considered are muscle fiber characteristics as they relate to muscle mass and quality

of meat that would be generated as the proliferation capacity of cells decreases with age.

2. History of cultured meat

In 1894, a French chemist named Pierre Berthelot predicted that by the year 2000, meat, milk,
and eggs could be made in factories. Later in 1930, Frederick Smith imagined growing large,
tender steaks in labs. The idea of lab-grown meat became more serious in the 1990s. The first
veggie burger was made in 1982, and by 1995, the FDA allowed lab techniques for meat
production. In 1999, a patent was filed for large-scale lab-grown meat.

In 2004, a non-profit called New Harvest was formed to support lab-grown meat research. In
2009, Professor Mark Post said lab burgers were possible if funding was available. Google’s
Sergey Brin supported this work, leading to the first lab-grown burger being cooked and eaten in
public. It cost 300,000 euros to make and used animal serum for cell growth, but it proved lab-
grown meat could be real.

By 2016, several companies entered the field, such as Mosa Meats, Memphis Meats (now
UPSIDE Foods), Modern Meadow, and The Good Food Institute. Memphis Meats made a
meatball that cost much less than earlier lab burgers. In 2019, Future Meat created lab-grown
chicken for under 500 euros per pound.

Today, over 100 companies around the world are working on lab-grown meat. Even large
farming companies are investing in this technology. Most focus on beef, but also work on
poultry, pork, seafood, and even exotic meats like kangaroo and mammoth. North America leads,
followed by Asia and Europe.

In 2020, the company Eat Just sold the first lab-grown chicken nugget in Singapore, making it
the first country to allow the sale of cultivated meat. In June 2023, the USDA approved the sale
of lab-grown chicken from UPSIDE Foods and Good Meat in the United States, making it the
second country to allow such sales. This was a big step forward for lab-grown meat.

Cultivated meat is now a fast-growing part of biotechnology. It offers a solution to many

problems, like animal cruelty, environmental harm, and the increasing demand for food as the
global population grows.

3. Rationale for cultured meat

Here are the several factors that derive the need for cultured meat:

 Environmental sustainability: The aim of cultured meat is to promote environmentally

stable practice while meeting the demands of meat for the population and avoiding

traditional livestock practices. This would ultimately reduce the greenhouse gases,

promising environmental sustainability.

 Food security: As the population is increasing, the demand for meat consumption also g

oes side by side. So, cultivated meat is an excellent approach to cope with these situations.

 Animal suffering: Cultivated meat reduces the suffering of animals by reducing the rate

of slaughtering of animals; the amount of animals needed for cell culturing is smaller

than the traditional method. It has great potential to reduce animal suffering in order to

obtain the meat.

 Health and safety: Cultured meat is considered as a safe method for meat consumption.

Here, no animal livestock slaughter is needed that ultimately reduces the spread of

diseases aiming to reduce agricultural practices. It is also an effective option for

vegetarians who usually do not consume natural meat or are allergic to it.

4. Requirements for cultured meat

1. Cell Source

 Muscle stem cells, myoblasts, fat cells, or pluripotent stem cells.

 Taken through a small, harmless biopsy from a living animal or developed in the lab.

✅ 2. Growth Medium (Culture Media)

 A nutrient-rich liquid that feeds the cells.

 Contains:

o Amino acids (to build proteins)

o Sugars (for energy)

o Vitamins and minerals

o Growth factors (to stimulate cell division and specialization)

 o Salts (to maintain pH and osmotic balance)

 Animal-free or plant-based media are preferred to avoid using fetal bovine serum
(FBS), which is costly and unethical.

3. Scaffolds

 Structures that support the growing cells and help form meat-like texture.

 Made from edible or biodegradable materials (e.g., plant proteins, collagen, cellulose).

 Give shape, texture, and structure to the final product.