From biopsy to laboratory: the complex process of cultivated meat explained in detail

The first patent for cultivated meat was granted in 1999; the first small piece of lab-grown beef was produced in 2013 in the Netherlands; the first cultivated meat company was founded in 2016; and the first sale of small quantities of chicken nuggets cultivated in a bioreactor took place (after two years of regulatory procedures) in a private club in Singapore in December 2020.

In 2021, total investments in the new sector reached 2 billion dollars, and JBS, a Brazilian company and the world's largest meat processing company, invested 100 million dollars and announced that it intended to begin selling cultivated meat in 2024. Furthermore, these innovative research fields now also include the production of cultivated fish meat (both freshwater and saltwater) and cultivated shrimp, as well as synthetic eggs and milk.

Are we really close to having a mass production system for animal-derived foods without the involvement of living beings, capable of producing steaks, pork chops, and chicken breasts without carrying out any form of slaughter? Or is the imminent rise of the cultivated animal products sector merely another case of extremely exaggerated expectations? 

The production of cultivated meat is a complex process that goes through several stages and begins with a biopsy, namely the extraction of a small sample of stem cells from the muscle tissue of an animal. These cells proliferate in culture media that mimic the conditions found inside animal bodies.

Yeast, soy, rice, and microbial substances in decomposed (hydrolyzed) form can be added to the initial mixtures as additional sources of compounds necessary for the production of myoblasts (embryonic precursors of muscle cells). The developing cells are then transferred into a series of increasingly larger bioreactors. During this process, a tiny sample of satellite cells taken from animal tissues transforms into proliferative myoblasts that differentiate into non-replicating muscle, adipose, and connective tissues, which by fusing form myotubes (multinucleated fibers).

The entire process takes place over a period ranging (depending on the species) from two to eight weeks.

From a nutritional point of view, the laboratory-cultivated product is the perfect equivalent of lean meat, but it lacks the structure, mouthfeel, and fat content of cooked beef or pork.

The mass production of cultivated meat takes place inside bioreactors under meticulously controlled conditions.