Technology to grow meat in a laboratory has entered the next stage of testing in more than 10 sites around the world after successfully completing proof of concept in Scotland.

The new approach to generating pig cell lines for cultivated meat has been developed by Roslin Technologies and the University of Edinburgh with support from the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC). Researchers say it could overcome a critical bottleneck in the commercial production of laboratory-grown meat, which has been a lack of cost-effective ways of growing cells at large scale.

Demand for protein alternatives to slaughtered meat has grown considerably in recent years amid concerns about the sustainability of traditional farming. Although a nascent industry, research from McKinsey & Company has predicted the market for cultivated meat products will reach more than £21 billion by 2030.

“While there is still further to go to meet parity with the economics of livestock products, we are taking steps to get there by addressing the production challenges facing the cultivated meat sector,” said Karen Fairlie-Clarke, engagement manager at Roslin Technologies.

“Once the ability to scale has been proven, the next stage is product development and validation before further refining the media to be food grade.”

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Roslin Technologies is the only commercial provider of induced pluripotent stem cells, which can be used to grow different types of tissue such as muscle and fat. The Scottish firm’s cells have been shown to replicate indefinitely and without the deterioration demonstrated by others, resulting in more uniform production results.

The cells from Roslin Technologies can also be grown in a suspension culture without the need for microcarriers to help them float. This is important in the step up from petri dishes to larger-scale bioreactors, while cutting out microcarriers has helped Roslin reduce the cost of cell culture media by 61 per cent.

Roslin provides its pig cells and media products to cultivated meat producers around the world. Ms Fairlie-Clarke said more than 10 of these customers are now using the new technology in bioreactors ranging from 10 to 50 litres in size, following proof of concept validation at five litres.

“The project outputs are a big step towards using our cells and media for the production of cultivated meat at scale,” she said.

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“The proof of concept has shown that costs can be reduced, batch to batch variation reduced, and now in partnership with cultivated meat producers we can take the findings forward to larger bioreactors and begin the process of scaling up to industry standards.”

Edinburgh is centre of excellence in this field, with the University of Edinburgh ranked among the top in the world for stem cell research. Pluripotent stem cells are also used in regenerative medicine to treat human health conditions, though Roslin Technologies is focused on the food and agriculture sectors.

“Making fundamental changes to the way we produce and consume food will be a critical part of how we make the sector more sustainable and feed the world’s growing population,” IBioIC director Liz Fletcher said.

“It is highly encouraging that research taking place in Scotland is at the vanguard of developing solutions to that challenge, potentially creating a more efficient sector that does not rely on raising animals. This is another great example of what combining industry nous with our world-class universities can achieve through collaboration.”

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Leonardo Rios Solis, honorary lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, added: “Our project represents a huge step forward in selecting the right cells that will grow in the way required for scale, consistency, and the necessary food standards.

“It is vital to understand the engineering parameters of cell growth and we have managed to determine the right conditions through this initiative.”

In 2013 Dutch pharmacologist Mark Post created the first hamburger patty grown directly from cultured animal stem cells. Since then other cultured prototypes have also gained growing attention.

Israeli start-up SuperMeat is looking to bring its cultured poultry to market after opening a test restaurant in November 2020 to gauge public reaction. The first commercial sale of cultured meat occurred a month later at the 1880 restaurant in Singapore, the first and to date only country to grant regulatory approval for so-called "clean meat" that does not come from slaughtered animals.