The Science of Alt Protein: Nature and nurture—Cell lines and media
Andrew Stout, PhD
Tufts University
Event description
While cell lines and media are frequently discussed as separate and distinct development areas for cultivated meat, real world experience reveals that these two inputs are inextricably tied, and that a focus on one without consideration of the other is unlikely to create optimal systems. In other words, maximally efficient cell culture systems depend on both the “nature” of the cells and the “nurture” of their media environment.
Join us on May 14th to hear Andrew Stout, PhD, Assistant Professor at Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture and GFI grantee, discuss opportunities for convergent development of both cell lines and media for cultivated meat, as well as possible pitfalls that come from mismatches between the two.
Meet the speaker
Andrew Stout, PhD
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
TUFTS UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR CELLULAR AGRICULTURE
Andrew Stout is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA), where his research group focuses on cell line and media development for cultivated meat applications. Prior to joining the Tufts faculty in 2025, Andrew served as Co-Founder and CSO of Deco Labs, Inc., a company working to commercialize low-cost media ingredients for cell culture. He obtained his Ph.D. from Tufts University in 2022 through a New Harvest Fellowship, before which he obtained a B.S. in Materials Science from Rice University and performed cultivated meat and precision fermentation research at Maastricht University and Geltor, Inc.
Upcoming events
View all events
The Climate Challenge & Protein Diversification for the Global South
Food systems sit at the center of the climate challenge. This DC Climate Week session brings together development finance leaders, researchers, and industry experts to explore how diversified protein production…
The Science of Alt Protein: Transforming waste to fungal mycoprotein
Learn how Dr. Wang is developing a foundational biorefinery for converting food waste to fungal mycoprotein for practical food applications.
Proposal Writing Workshop: Tips and tricks for securing alternative protein funding
Join our expert-led workshop designed to help U.S.-based researchers strengthen their ability to secure funding.
SynBioBeta 2026
Bruce Friedrich joins SynBioBeta to make the case for a new way of producing meat—one grounded in science, built for scale, and critical to the future of food.
The Science of Alt Protein: Nature and nurture—Cell lines and media
Discover opportunities for the convergent development of both cell lines and media for cultivated meat.
