Laying the Scientific and Engineering Foundation for Sustainable Cultivated Meat Production

培育的肉类可能成为可持续食品体系的基石。它涉及从动物细胞中培养动物蛋白质、脂肪和结缔组织。目的是为培育肉制品产业奠定科学和工程基础。这个项目将解决一些关键的瓶颈和知识差距。一种是引导干细胞可靠地分化为特定类型的细胞(例如，肌肉、脂肪、软骨)。另一种方法是为这些细胞开发一种不含动物产品的生长介质。第三个是开发材料和工艺，以创建细胞生长所需的三维组织支架。最后一项是对具有代表性的养殖肉类加工过程进行技术和经济分析。该项目将培养研究生、博士后和本科生。为了建立这一科学和工程基础，该项目侧重于四个具体目标：1)制定干细胞扩增和分化为肌肉和脂肪的有效策略，以维持细胞系的稳定性并支持可伸缩性；2)建立一个在廉价的、植物为基础的、无血清的直至中试规模的培养液中生长和分化细胞系的过程；3)创造能够创建三维组织结构的生物材料和过程；以及4)完成栽培肉类生产的技术经济分析(TEA)和生命周期分析(LCA)。预计这些进展将广泛有助于再生医学的干细胞工程、器官替代的生物材料和组织工程、用于生物疗法生产的大规模哺乳动物细胞培养、用于食品和生物制药生产的植物细胞培养过程，以及基于发酵的生物过程的技术经济和生命周期分析。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Cultivated meat could be a cornerstone of a sustainable food system. It involves growing animal protein, fat, and connective tissue from animal cells. The goal is to establish the scientific and engineering foundation for the cultivated meat industry. There are critical bottlenecks and knowledge gaps that this project will address. One is directing stem cells to reliably differentiate into specific cell types (e.g., muscle, fat, cartilage). Another is developing a growth medium for these cells that does not contain animal products. A third is to develop material and processes to allow for the creation of a 3-dimensional tissue scaffold for the cells to grow in. A final one is the development of a technical and economic analysis of a representative cultured meat process. This project will train graduate students, post-docs, and undergraduates. It will also develop and deliver an annual extension/continuing education course on cultivated meat science and technology.In order to establish this scientific and engineering foundation, the project is focused on four specific aims: 1) develop an efficient strategy for stem cell amplification and differentiation to muscle and fat that maintains cell line stability and supports scalability, 2) establish a process for growing and differentiating cell lines in inexpensive, plant-based, serum-free medium up to pilot scale, 3) create biomaterials and processes that allow creation of three-dimensional tissue structure, and 4) complete a techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle analysis (LCA) for cultivated meat production. It is anticipated that these advancements will contribute broadly to stem cell engineering for regenerative medicine, biomaterials and tissue engineering for organ replacement, large-scale mammalian cell culture for biotherapeutics production, plant cell culture processes for food and biopharmaceutical production, and techno-economic and life cycle analyses of fermentation-based bioprocesses.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.