On-chip lobster cell immortalization

Project aims

The goal of this project is to create the first long-lasting lobster cell lines that can support the production of cultivated lobster meat. Today, lobster cells do not grow well in the lab and stop dividing after a short time. This makes it challenging for researchers and companies to develop seafood products that are safe, sustainable, and cruelty-free. The research team aims to solve this by using a small chip that controls the environment around lobster cells, together with cell-friendly 3D-printed structures that help them survive and grow for long periods. This approach will allow them to isolate rare cells that are naturally better adapted for cultivated lobster meat production. The project aims are:

Aim 1: Build a chip-based system that helps lobster cells grow longer. They will design microfluidic chips and 3D-printed scaffolds that mimic the natural conditions inside a lobster’s body. These devices let them control oxygen, nutrients, and gentle stress signals that encourage rare cells with higher growth potential to appear.

Aim 2: Identify and isolate lobster cells that show long-term growth. Using these chips, they will watch for small groups of cells that divide faster or live longer than normal. They will separate these promising cells and expand them to create stable cell lines.

Aim 3: Train the new cell lines to grow without animal-based serum. To make the process more ethical and scalable, they will gradually reduce serum in the culture media until the cells can grow in fully defined, animal-free conditions.

Aim 4: Test the health and stability of the new cell lines. They will study how fast the cells grow, how well they form muscle-like tissue, whether they keep a stable genome, and whether they maintain features needed for cultivated meat.