Growing meat from plants

Project aims

Growing meat from animal cells is a complex and expensive process. To grow and develop, cells require a carefully balanced cocktail of nutrients and ingredients called culture media. Some of these ingredients have historically been sourced from animals and come with a high price tag. They also conflict with the sustainability and welfare aspirations of cellular agriculture, due to their environmental cost and the requirement for animal slaughter.

Plant-based extracts present a promising alternative to animal-derived ingredients due to their myriad nutritional and beneficial components that can nourish cells. However, the use of these ingredients in culture media remains largely unexplored.

This project will see the preparation and assessment of plant extracts for use in culture media to grow animal cells. Plant materials will be prepared using an industrial process, and the reproducibility of this process will be assessed by analyzing the chemical profiles of the resultant extracts. These extracts will then be investigated for their ability to grow and maintain healthy bovine (cow) cells. Once promising plant extracts have been identified, they will be combined with other beneficial ingredients to create a custom media formulation optimized for the growth of these cells. This formulation will also be tested on a range of additional cells (e.g. chicken), to determine its potential versatility in growing different meat products.