What starts out as muscle cells replicating in a liquid should eventually end up on our plates as meat. Cultured meat is a promising solution: less animal suffering, less land needed and less of a burden on society. The question is no longer whether it is possible, but whether it is affordable and gets accepted.
For the past few months, a bioreactor no bigger than a pizza oven has been bubbling away in a laboratory belonging to the Bioprocess Technology chair group in Wageningen. The researchers affectionately call the machine ‘Isabella’. ‘This is where we grow meat cells,’ says research manager Affif Grazette. ‘To do that, we take biopsies from the muscles of a cow, pig or fish. We separate out the tissue using enzymes and place the isolated muscle cells in a culture medium – a mix of amino acids, water, sugars and minerals. The cells then divide and within a week we have a small lump of meat cells weighing a hundred grams.’ The chair group is working on optimizing the process in the bioreactor.
A bioreactor of the same type was also installed six months ago on the dairy farm of Corné van Leeuwen in Schipluiden, earning it the title in the media of ‘the world’s first cultured meat farm’. This project is run by the CRAFT consortium, which includes the initiator RespectFarms, Wageningen University & Research and companies such as Mosa Meat and Kipster. Grazette is involved in the project, as is the Food Quality & Design chair group. ‘Our aim with this four-year pilot on the dairy farm is to show that cultured meat can be produced on a small scale directly on a farm,’ explains Grazette. ‘The Food Quality & Design scientists are working on turning that meat into an appetising burger, sausage or meatball. Together with RespectFarms, we are investigating whether cultured meat can be part of a more diverse business model for individual farmers.’