The US-based National Science Foundation (NSF) is investing US$3.55 million in the long-term sustainability of cultivated meat with a grant to researchers at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). 

The Cultivated Meat Consortium, which grew out of a partnership with the university’s Biotechnology Program, seeks to leverage the funds to make cultured meat more cost-effective and commercially scalable.

The NSF grant represents the US government’s biggest investment in cultivated meat research to date. It’s also the first cultivated meat grant that the US government has awarded to a university and not to a company, according to the Good Food Institute. 

The investment builds off of UC Davis’ track record of growing industry through its on-campus programs. 

“I hope we can do for the cultivated meat industry what the Department of Viticulture and Enology has been able to do for the California wine industry,” says principal investigator Professor David Block. He is also the chair of the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology and a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering. 

“The societal need is to feed nine billion people,” Block underscores. He adds that he doesn’t see cultivated meat as replacing conventional agriculture, but rather as adding more production and flexibility. Potentially, if the conditions are right, farmers might find it advantageous to operate cultivated meat production alongside conventional agriculture, he affirms.

“What we want to know is, will cultivated meat be a viable supplement to traditional agriculture?”

Goals of the project
The NSF-funded project, which will run over five years, has several goals:
 

• Developing stable stem cell lines from which cultivated meat can be grown;
• Developing inexpensive, plant-based media in which to grow the cells; and
• Assessing the nutritional value, stability and sensory qualities of cultivated meat products.

The project aims to look at both “unstructured” products, such as for sausage or burger patties, and “structured” products that look and cook more like natural cuts of meat or fish.

An arm of the project led by Karen McDonald, professor of chemical engineering, will look at the technical and economic hurdles on the way to sustainable cultivated meat, including life cycle analysis of the entire process.

From pharma to food-grade scalability 
The Cultivated Meat Consortium was established in fall 2019 and collaborates with the Biotechnology Program, wher the consortium acts as a hub for exchanging knowledge and training graduate students interested in this new industry.

Cell culture-based biopharmaceutical manufacturing typically involves growing cells in relatively small volumes – less than 25,000 L – of expensive media to make high-value products such as therapeutic antibodies, some of the most successful pharmaceuticals on the market today.

The food and beverage industry ferments products at scales of five to ten times larger or more than biopharmaceutical manufacturing, using relatively inexpensive ingredients to make cheaper items. If cultivated meat is to be a commercial success, it will have to be grown like a biotech product, says Block, but at a price closer to a food product.

“The question is, how can we make a biopharmaceutical cell culture process look more like food-grade fermentation?” Block said. “We need the right mix for high-quality ingredients at a reasonable price.”

The researchers also plan to share the results of their work with the cultivated industry through extension programs.

The campus has expertise in cultivating stem cells, biomanufacturing and chemical engineering, as well as in food science and fermentation, notes Denneal Jamison-McClung, director of the Biotechnology Program.

“On this topic, the different strengths of the campus really merge together.”  

It’s also an area that is attracting a lot of interest from students, she says. A goal of the Biotechnology Program is to train students and prepare them for roles in industry, especially through the designated emphasis in biotechnology and internships.

“Biotechnology students need to know this space and how the technologies cross over,” Jamison-McClung said. Members of the consortium have already received some support for graduate students from the Good Food Institute and New Harvest.

Last week, new research indicated the substantial potential markets for cultured meat and the movement towards reduced-meat diets across Germany and France. A study found there is growing acceptance of non-meat diets in both countries – although a strong sense of tradition and culture still hold sway in terms of attitudes, particularly in France.

Edited by Missy Green

Caption: The project aims to look at both “unstructured” products, such as for sausage or burger patties, and “structured” products that look and cook more like natural cuts of meat or fish.