Scalable manufacturing process for cultivated meat 

Current production technologies for cultivated meat result in low yields, leading to economic projections that prohibit its scalability.

Now a new research study demonstrates a cost-effective method for manufacturing lab-grown animal protein from cells, ie, cultivated meat. The study shows that continuous manufacturing could address the key challenges of scalability and cost, potentially making cultivated meat more accessible.

Professor Yaakov Nahmias, founder of Believer Meats, and a multidisciplinary team at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the cultivated meat industry, have demonstrated the continuous manufacturing process for cultivated meat, which uses tangential flow filtration (TFF).

The new bioreactor assembly permits biomass expansion to 130 billion cells/L, achieving yields of 43% weight per volume. The process was carried out continuously over 20 days, enabling daily biomass harvests.  Additionally, the research introduces an animal component-free culture medium at a low cost, which supports the long-term, high-density culture of chicken cells.

 

Prof Koby Nahmias working in his lab. Image credit: Nahmias Lab

“We were inspired by how Ford’s automated assembly line revolutionised the car industry 110 years ago,” Nahmias said. 

“Our findings show that continuous manufacturing enables cultivated meat production at a fraction of current costs, without resorting to genetic modification or mega-factories. This technology brings us closer to making cultivated meat a viable and sustainable alternative to traditional animal farming.”

Bruce Friedrich, President of The Good Food Institute, said: “GFI applauds the spirit of openness that continues to characterise cultivated meat researchers like Dr Koby Nahmias and his colleagues, who understand that showing the scientific potential of cultivated meat will benefit all scientists working in the field.”

This research represents a potential advance in the economic feasibility of cultivated meat, addressing previous concerns about high costs and low yields. Using this empirical data, the team conducted a techno-economic analysis of a hypothetical 50,000 L production facility.  The analysis indicates that the cost of production of cultivated chicken could theoretically be reduced to a price similar to that of organic chicken.

Dr Elliot Swartz, Principal Scientist at Cultivated Meat, The Good Food Institute, emphasised the significance of the study’s findings. “Empirical data is the bedrock for any cost model of scaled cultivated meat production, and this study is the first to provide real-world empirical evidence for key factors that influence the cost of production, such as media cost, metabolic efficiency and achievable yields in a scalable bioprocess design.”

While the authors acknowledged that various other factors would affect the final market price of cultivated meat, the research does underscore the potential of continuous manufacturing to lower production costs.

The research, Continuous Manufacturing of Cultivated Meat: Empirical Economic Analysis, has been published in Nature Food.

Top image credit: iStock.com/AndreyPopov