Rethinking Cultured Meat (CM) Growth Medium: Can Grassland Plant-Derived Supplements Sustainably Support CM Production?

We are at the beginning of a fifth era of agriculture. One at the convergence of data, precision agriculture and biotechnology. Cultured protein/cultivated meat heralds an age of biological innovations that can provide alternative nutritious, flavourful and high-quality protein that is indistinguishable to the traditional. Cultured Meat (CM) research focusses on scalable production system bottlenecks i.e. bioreactor design, scaffolds, cell source and media formulation. The growth medium used for the proliferation and differentiation of the cells used in CM is essential to be able to produce the final product efficiently. Furthermore, formulation of the medium should also be considered in the carbon footprint of the final product, in order to produce a carbon neutral alternative meat protein.
CM media is provided through commercially available base media products, containing an energy source, such as glucose, amino acids (AA, i.e. L-glutamine) and vitamins, but must also be supplemented with additional nutrients such as, hormones and growth factors, amongst others. These are usually provided through foetal bovine serum (FBS) supplementation, dependent on the slaughter of pregnant cows. For meaningful global impact, CM protein production needs be both scalable and environmentally sustainable, which is the focus of Cellular Agriculture Ltd to reach large scale cultured protein production.
There is considerable uncertainty over the environmental impacts of CM production; although global warming will be less with CM than with cattle initially, this may not apply in the long term because the methane (CH4) associated with cattle production does not accumulate in the atmosphere, unlike CO2, the main greenhouse gas associated with CM production[1]. Future impacts of CM will therefore depend on the availability of renewable systems of energy generation and current/future production systems in animal agriculture[2]. Moreover, assessments of CM to date have tended to overlook the multiple ecosystem services provided by livestock farming systems (e.g. socio-cultural benefits such as tourism provision), through a single-issue focus, limiting the applicability of the results to policy makers and practitioners alike[3].
Approximately 70% of the UK's commercial forage crops are grasses (Loillium/Festuca spp.) and clover (Trifolium spp.) from which a fructose and protein nutrient rich juice can be readily extracted. In cattle and sheep fructose and protein undergo metabolism in the rumen producing volatile fatty acids (VFA's) and microbial cellular protein (MCP) which undergoes proteolysis to AA for nutritional uptake along with VFAs. Both VFA's and MCP can be produced during the acidogenic phase of anaerobic digestion (AD), prior to production of CH4, and following proteolysis and downstream processing (DSP) could potentially ne a media for CM production.
The student will undergo interdisciplinary training in biorefining and grassland science, anaerobic fermentation, population dynamics, bioinformatics and biotechnology to investigate protein and carbohydrate bioconversion to media formulations. Specific cell culture experimental design, methodological skills and analysis for CM production (i.e. cell culturing, biological analysis, microscopy) will be developed through experimental work. The student will be trained in LCA and approaches for sustainability indicator evaluation and uncertainty analysis.
The training will be supported by expertise in AD, cell biology, statistical design of experiments, analytical chemistry and manufacturing design.