Developing assays for meat-specific cell traits
Research to align on the appropriate assays would introduce standardization that can accelerate R&D efforts.
Industry
Marketplace exchange platform for ingredients, inputs, & services
Connecting the buyers and sellers of the ingredients, inputs, and services needed to produce alternative proteins.
Developing rigorous demand forecasts
Demand forecasts impact investments in R&D, infrastructure, personnel, and partnerships that will be necessary to participate in and accelerate the alternative protein sector.
Targeted alternative protein industry events & workshops
Targeted events enable greater opportunities for meaningful participation and communication between participants. They may also be especially useful for addressing specific subject matter areas or convening stakeholders with expertise in particular aspects of the alternative protein value chain to channel concerted brainstorming efforts toward actionable solutions in the form of active workshops rather than traditional conferences.
Fat production & encapsulation within oleaginous yeast
Oleaginous yeast can convert sugars into fats that impart flavor and mouthfeel to alternative proteins, and they can accumulate lipids within their cell bodies to inhibit oxidation. New research on lipid encapsulation in yeast should investigate the efficacy of yeast species for the accumulation and storage of lipids—including lipids with the same profile as animal lipids.
Suppressing hyper-branching of filamentous fungi
Prolonging continuous cultivation of filamentous fungi by suppressing hyper-branching to improve texture and boost production efficiency.
Uptake and biosynthesis of fat in cultivated meat cells
To recapitulate meat’s fat profile, research is required to determine which lipids muscle and fat cells can produce efficiently—and from which precursors—and which lipids they can absorb directly from the culture media. Understanding the effects of specific fats on organoleptic properties will help to focus these efforts.
3D microenvironments for cell expansion
Proliferation and high-density cell growth are fundamentally important to scaling cultivated meat production. Recent demonstrations of stem cell expansion in 3D microenvironments such as encapsulated spheres or tubules can generate cell densities far higher than industry-leading stirred tank bioreactors with minimal loss of cell viability or stemness. As a scalable platform, the use of 3D microenvironments for stem cell expansion and differentiation—particularly with the relevant cell types used in cultivated meat—warrants further investigation.
