Engineered Protein Polymers for Industrial Cell Culture (EPPICC)

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Worldwide, human consumption of meat is approximately 450 million tonnes per year and is increasing by 1% annually. This habit is fuelling the climate crisis, as meat production is responsible for 57% of all food related greenhouse gas emissions. To provide an authentic meat experience in an environmentally friendly manner, businesses are developing cultivated meat, using animal cells grown in bioreactors and formed into meat products.However, to achieve the quantities necessary, cells must be grown on a hitherto unimaginable industrial scale. To ensure the healthy growth of the cells, they need the correct biological cues - a matrix to adhere to and signalling molecules called growth factors. Currently, production of these individual components is complicated, expensive and difficult to scale. These components vastly increase the cost of cultivated meat production, rendering it far more expensive than traditional meat.Our radical solution uses an engineered protein called Caf1, which we produce in large quantities using bacteria. Caf1 forms modular, inert polymers which can be modified by the insertion of small fragments of either growth or adhesion factors. This supplies the need for growth factors and a matrix in a single cost-effective product. Caf1 is inexpensive to produce, robust, easy-to-use and requires no animal products.In this project we will demonstrate that Caf1 can be produced at large-scale and validate the functionality of several key variants. If successful we will have demonstrated that our technology can remove a major blockage holding back the development of the cultivated meat sector.These same materials could be used to produce cells for therapy, but to do so our Caf1 products must meet stringent regulatory requirements. As a first step to investigate the use of the technology for clinical cell therapy applications we will review the regulatory requirements which Caf1 based products must meet before they can be used in clinical cell therapy manufacture.By the end of this 12-month project, we will have established the evidence that shows that Caf1 is a hugely disruptive technology which will have a profound impact on people's lives and the health of the planet.