Technological Trend and Suggestions for Cultured Meat Industry

Abstract

Cultured meat is a strategic emerging industry that integrates advanced biotechnology and food technology and it may lead to industrial restructuring and development pattern transformation of the agricultural field. As the cultured meat technology develops toward commercialization, it is of great significance to analyzing the technological trend of the industry. This study first summarizes the industrial status and research progress of the core raw materials and reagents for cultured meat production, including well-bred animals, seed cells, culture media, and scaffolding materials. Then the manufacturing technology bottlenecks and the industrial competition pattern of main equipment (e.g., biosafety cabinets and bioreactors) for cultured meat production are analyzed. Furthermore, the key technology system and development trend for the large-scale production of cultured meat are reviewed, including the establishment of seed cell banks, bioprocess of large-scale cell culture, development of low-cost culture medium, and food processing technology. In view of the weakness in the cultured meat industry foundation in China, the following suggestions are proposed: (1) accelerating the localization of reagents and equipment to improve the industrial chain; (2) improving the cultured meat technical system by strengthening the international layout of intellectual property rights, (3) optimizing discipline classification while promoting education through school-enterprise integration; (4) improving risk assessment and formulating group standards, and (5) popularizing scientific knowledge to enhance the public acceptance of cultured meat.

Keywords

• cultured meat
• seed cells
• bioreactors
• bioprocess of large-scale cell culture
• culture medium research and development
• food processing