Technological, Regulatory, and Ethical Aspects of In Vitro Meat: A Future Slaughter‐Free Harvest (original) (raw)

In-vitro meat: a promising solution for sustainability of meat sector

Journal of Animal Science and Technology

The in-vitro meat is a novel concept in food biotechnology comprising field of tissue engineering and cellular agriculture. It involves production of edible biomass by in-vitro culture of stem cells harvested from the muscle of live animals by self-organizing or scaffolding methodology. It is considered as efficient, environmental friendly, better ensuring public safety and nutritional security, as well as ethical way of producing meat. Source of stem cells, media ingredients, supply of large size bioreactors, skilled manpower, sanitary requirements, production of products with similar sensory and textural attributes as of conventional meat, consumer acceptance, and proper set up of regulatory framework are challenges faced in commercialization and consumer acceptance of in-vitro meat. To realize any perceivable change in various socioeconomic and environmental spheres, the technology should be commercialized and should be cost-effective as conventional meat and widely accepted among consumers. The new challenges of increasing demand of meat with the increasing population could be fulfill by the establishment of in-vitro meat production at large scale and its popularization. The adoption of in-vitro meat production at an industrial scale will lead to self-sufficiency in the developed world.

Possibilities for an in vitro meat production system

Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, 2010

Meat produced in vitro has been proposed as a humane, safe and environmentally beneficial alternative to slaughtered animal flesh as a source of nutritional muscle tissue. The basic methodology of an in vitro meat production system (IMPS) involves culturing muscle tissue in a liquid medium on a large scale. Each component of the system offers an array of options which are described taking into account recent advances in relevant research. A major advantage of an IMPS is that the conditions are controlled and manipulatable. Limitations discussed include meeting nutritional requirements and large scale operation. The direction of further research and prospects regarding the future of in vitro meat production will be speculated. Industrial relevance: The development of an alternative meat production system is driven by the growing demand for meat and the shrinking resources available to produce it by current methods. Implementation of an in vitro meat production system (IMPS) to complement existing meat production practices creates the opportunity for meat products of different characteristics to be put onto the market. In vitro produced meat products resembling the processed and comminuted meat products of today will be sooner to develop than those resembling traditional cuts of meat. While widening the scope of the meat industry in practices and products, the IMPS will reduce the need for agricultural resources to produce meat.

Biotechnological and Technical Challenges Related to Cultured Meat Production

Applied Sciences

The constant growth of the population has pushed researchers to find novel protein sources. A possible solution to this problem has been found in cellular agriculture, specifically in the production of cultured meat. In the following review, the key steps for the production of in vitro meat are identified, as well as the most important challenges. The main biological and technical approaches are taken into account and discussed, such as the choice of animal, animal-free alternatives to fetal bovine serum (FBS), cell biomaterial interactions, and the implementation of scalable and sustainable biofabrication and culturing systems. In the light of the findings, as promising as cultured meat production is, most of the discussed challenges are in an initial stage. Hence, research must overcome these challenges to ensure efficient large-scale production.

The Epic of In Vitro Meat Production—A Fiction into Reality

Foods, 2021

Due to a proportionally increasing population and food demands, the food industry has come up with wide innovations, opportunities, and possibilities to manufacture meat under in vitro conditions. The amalgamation of cell culture and tissue engineering has been the base idea for the development of the synthetic meat, and this has been proposed to be a pivotal study for a futuristic muscle development program in the medical field. With improved microbial and chemical advancements, in vitro meat matched the conventional meat and is proposed to be eco-friendly, healthy, nutrient rich, and ethical. Despite the success, there are several challenges associated with the utilization of materials in synthetic meat manufacture, which demands regulatory and safety assessment systems to manage the risks associated with the production of cultured meat. The role of 3D bioprinting meat analogues enables a better nutritional profile and sensorial values. The integration of nanosensors in the biopro...

Current Issues and Technical Advances in Cultured Meat Production: A Review

Food Science of Animal Resources, 2021

As the global population grows, we need a stable protein supply to meet the demands. Although plant-derived protein sources are widely available, animal meat maintains its popularity as a high-quality and savory protein source. Recently, cultured meat, also known as in vitro meat, has been suggested as a meat analog produced through in vitro cell culture technology. Cultured meat has several advantages over conventional meat, such as environmental protection, disease prevention, and animal welfare. However, cultured meat manufacturing is an emerging technology; thus, its further and dynamic development would be pivotal. Commercialization of cultured meat to the public will take a long time but cultured meat undoubtedly will come to our table someday. Here, we discuss the social and economic aspects of cultured meat production as well as the recent technical advances in cultured meat technology. Keywords cultured meat, in vitro meat, livestock farming, myogenic satellite cells, alternative protein sources Production time Long Short (Bhat and Fayaz, 2011) Production yield Low High (Alexander et al., 2017) Greenhouse gas emission Very high Low (Bhat and Fayaz, 2011) Energy requirement High High (Tuomisto and Teixeira de Mattos, 2011) Water and soil pollution High Low (Welin and Van der Weele, 2012) Sustainability Low High (Siegrist and Hartmann, 2020) Characteristics Manipulating composition Impossible Possible (Bhat and Fayaz, 2011) Human health Low High (Joshi et al., 2020) Food safety Low High (Joshi et al., 2020) Animal welfare Low High (Mouat and Prince, 2018) Ethical advantage Low High (Mancini and Antonioli, 2020) Consumer acceptance High Low (Siegrist et al., 2018)

Tissue engineering approaches to develop cultured meat from cells: A mini review

Cogent Food & Agriculture

Cultured meat production is an innovative and emerging process to produce animal meat in laboratories, using tissue-engineering techniques. This novel approach to produce meat involves in vitro culture of the animal muscle tissues rather than rearing whole animals to obtain animal flesh for consumption. Conventional meat production results in several adverse consequences such as poor nutritional value of meat, food-borne diseases, depletion of environmental resources, pollution etc., associated with animal slaughter. Cultured meat, on the other hand, is essentially an animal-free harvest produced in controlled conditions. Cultured meat can provide healthier, safer, and disease-free meat to consumers, as well as mitigate the negative environmental effects associated with traditional meat production. Academically, this new method is considered adequately efficient to supply meat and meat products to consumers. However, in vitro cultured meat production is still in the early stages of development and requires in-depth research and advanced technical skills for optimized production and commercialization. This review focuses on the history and development of cultured meat production, with insights on the advantages, consequences, and potential of animal-free meat harvest.

Cultured meat from muscle stem cells: A review of challenges and prospects

Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2015

Growing muscle tissue in culture from animal stem cells to produce meat theoretically eliminates the need to sacrifice animals. So-called "cultured" or "synthetic" or "in vitro" meat could in theory be constructed with different characteristics and be produced faster and more efficiently than traditional meat. The technique to generate cultured muscle tissues from stem cells was described long ago, but has not yet been developed for the commercial production of cultured meat products. The technology is at an early stage and prerequisites of implementation include a reasonably high level of consumer acceptance, and the development of commercially-viable means of large scale production. Recent advancements in tissue culture techniques suggest that production may be economically feasible, provided it has physical properties in terms of colour, flavour, aroma, texture and palatability that are comparable to conventional meat. Although considerable progress has been made during recent years, important issues remain to be resolved, including the characterization of social and ethical constraints, the fine-tuning of culture conditions, and the development of culture media that are cost-effective and free of animal products. Consumer acceptance and confidence in in vitro produced cultured meat might be a significant impediment that hinders the marketing process.

Technical requirements for cultured meat production: a review

Journal of Animal Science and Technology, 2021

Environment, food, and disease have a selective force on the present and future as well as our genome. Adaptation of livestock and the environmental nexus, including forest encroachment for anthropological needs, has been proven to cause emerging infectious diseases. Further, these demand changes in meat production and market systems. Meat is a reliable source of protein, with a majority of the world population consumes meat. To meet the increasing demands of meat production as well as address issues, such as current environmental pollution, animal welfare, and outbreaks, cellular agriculture has emerged as one of the next industrial revolutions. Lab grown meat or cell cultured meat is a promising way to pursue this; however, it still needs to resemble traditional meat and be assured safety for human consumption. Further, to mimic the palatability of traditional meat, the process of cultured meat production starts from skeletal muscle progenitor cells isolated from animals that prol...

Cultivated meat: recent technological developments, current market and future challenges

Biotecnology Research & Innovation, 2021

The increasing demand for food, the debates regarding the ethics involved in slaughtering animals and the many associated environmental issues promote the emergence of an interesting question: is it possible to substitute conventional meat? In this context, Cultivated Meat (CM) is a promising alternative to replace meat, or at least to complement protein nutrition for humans. This overview aims to show the current technological developments for the production of CM, starting with the tissue engineering used to collect, grow and differentiate the cells, and also the characteristics of matrixes, culture media, types of bioreactors and techniques employed for cell cultivation. In addition, bioeconomy and sustainability issues are discussed, as well as social aspects and policy regulation. Furthermore, the fast growing market is presented, starting with the first meat ball in 2016, passing through some examples of recent funding and operating companies and start-ups, the continuous efforts to lower production costs, besides the most recent patented processes. Finally, and in the light of recent developments, future challenges and expectations for the future of CM are discussed, such as tissue engineering bottlenecks, bioreactor design optimization and public acceptance issues.