Sculpting the future of meat: Biomaterial approaches and structural engineering for large‐scale cell‐based production

Abstract

Novel foods are an increasing reality (and necessity) for our global food system and need to be protein‐rich for good nutrition. Cell‐based meats use the edible biomass of in vitro cultured animal cells harvested from the muscle tissue of live animals, removing the need to raise and slaughter animals. It is a viable alternative that is environmentally friendly, lowers resource consumption, and reduces health risks associated with traditional livestock farming. The cell‐based meat industry has boomed over the last 5 years with dozens of start‐ups being founded and millions of dollars in capital raised. While cell‐based meat faces technical, socio‐political, and regulatory challenges, it is a nascent technology with key technical challenges such as cell line stability, non‐animal‐derived culture media development, and bioprocessing for commercial‐scale uses. Here, we review the current field of cell‐based meat production at a lab scale and assess the feasibility and scalability of commercial production and the challenges that these production methods face. Moreover, we discuss the advancements in technologies for large‐scale manufacturing of cell‐based meat covering aspects including optimized culture media formulations, edible scaffold designs, and bioreactors for high‐density cell culture to reduce production costs.