Cultured meat#First public trial

Besides cultured meat, the terms healthy meat,{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/is-lab-grown-meat-good-for-us/278778/ |title=Is Lab-Grown Meat Good for Us? |work=The Atlantic |first=Marta |last=Zaraska |date=19 August 2013 |access-date=25 October 2023 |archive-date=21 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321184932/https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/is-lab-grown-meat-good-for-us/278778/ |url-status=live }} slaughter-free meat,{{cite web |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/will-people-eat-slaughter-free-lab-grown-meat_n_5bc8915ae4b0a8f17ee9e84a |title=Slaughter-Free Meat Is An Answer To Our Cruel And Broken Food System |work=The Huffington Post |date=19 October 2018 |first=Jacy Reese |last=Anthis |access-date=10 April 2019 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405061936/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/will-people-eat-slaughter-free-lab-grown-meat_n_5bc8915ae4b0a8f17ee9e84a |url-status=live }} in vitro meat, vat-grown meat,{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/rabbi-meat-from-cloned-pig-could-be-eaten-by-jews-with-milk/|title=Rabbi: Lab-grown pork could be kosher for Jews to eat – with milk|author=JTA|work=Times Of Israel|access-date=22 March 2018|archive-date=31 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331054735/https://www.timesofisrael.com/rabbi-meat-from-cloned-pig-could-be-eaten-by-jews-with-milk/|url-status=live}} lab-grown meat,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/science/a-lab-grown-burger-gets-a-taste-test.html|title=A Lab-Grown Burger Gets a Taste Test|last1=Fountain|first1=Henry|date=6 August 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=2 February 2016|archive-date=31 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231023625/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/science/a-lab-grown-burger-gets-a-taste-test.html|url-status=live}} cell-based meat,{{Cite news|url=https://vegnews.com/2018/9/usda-and-fda-to-host-joint-meeting-on-cell-based-meat-regulation|title=USDA and FDA to Host Joint Meeting On Cell-Based Meat Regulation|work=VegNews.com|access-date=26 November 2018|archive-date=8 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608123943/https://vegnews.com/2018/9/usda-and-fda-to-host-joint-meeting-on-cell-based-meat-regulation|url-status=live}} clean meat,{{Cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidebanis/2018/12/14/7-predictions-on-the-future-of-clean-meat-in-2019/#1683bcf83a99 |title=7 Predictions On The Future Of Clean Meat in 2019 |work=Forbes |date=December 14, 2018 |first=Davide |last=Banis |access-date=10 April 2019 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405135544/https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidebanis/2018/12/14/7-predictions-on-the-future-of-clean-meat-in-2019/#1683bcf83a99 |url-status=live }} cultivated meat{{cite news | last = Watson | first = Elaine | title = 'Cultivated' meat could be the most-consumer-friendly term for cell-cultured meat, suggests Mattson/GFI research | newspaper = FoodNavigator-USA | date = 12 September 2019 | url = https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2019/09/12/Cultivated-meat-could-be-the-most-consumer-friendly-term-for-cell-cultured-meat-suggests-Mattson-GFI-research | access-date = 7 October 2019 | archive-date = 1 October 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191001203518/https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2019/09/12/Cultivated-meat-could-be-the-most-consumer-friendly-term-for-cell-cultured-meat-suggests-Mattson-GFI-research | url-status = live }}{{cite journal |last1=Malerich |first1=Marlana |last2=Bryant |first2=Christopher |title=Nomenclature of cell-cultivated meat & seafood products |journal=npj Science of Food |date=2022 |volume=6 |issue=1 |page=56 |doi=10.1038/s41538-022-00172-0 |doi-access=free|pmid=36496502 |pmc=9734853 }} and synthetic meat{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/05/synthetic-meat-burger-stem-cells|title=Synthetic meat: how the world's costliest burger made it on to the plate|first=Alok|last=Jha|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=2 February 2016|date=5 August 2013|archive-date=4 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604132845/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/05/synthetic-meat-burger-stem-cells|url-status=live}} have been used to describe the product.{{cite journal |last1=Hallman |first1=William K. |last2=Hallman |first2=Eileen E. |title=Cell-based, cell-cultured, cell-cultivated, cultured, or cultivated. What is the best name for meat, poultry, and seafood made directly from the cells of animals? |journal=npj Science of Food |date=2023 |volume=7 |issue=1 |page=62 |doi=10.1038/s41538-023-00234-x |doi-access=free|pmid=38057390 |pmc=10700563 }} Although it has multiple meanings, artificial meat is occasionally used.{{Cite web|url=https://unherd.com/thepost/bill-gates-wants-you-to-eat-artificial-meat/|title=Bill Gates wants you to eat artificial meat|access-date=9 April 2022|archive-date=8 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408032559/https://unherd.com/thepost/bill-gates-wants-you-to-eat-artificial-meat/|url-status=live}}

Between 2016 and 2019, clean meat gained traction. The Good Food Institute (GFI) coined the term in 2016,{{cite web|url=http://www.gfi.org/clean-meat-the-clean-energy-of-food|title="Clean Meat": The "Clean Energy" of Food|date=6 September 2016|access-date=6 September 2016|archive-date=18 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118210415/https://www.gfi.org/clean-meat-the-clean-energy-of-food|url-status=live}} and in late 2018, the institute published research claiming that use of clean better reflected the production process and benefits.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gfi.org/how-we-talk-about-meat-grown-without-animals|title="Clean Meat," "Cell-Based Meat," "Slaughter-Free Meat": How We Talk About Meat Grown without Animals|date=27 September 2018|website=The Good Food Institute|access-date=14 October 2019|archive-date=13 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513044113/https://gfi.org/blog/how-we-talk-about-meat-grown-without-animals/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Analysis/Lab-made-meat-rebranded-clean-meat|title=Lab-made meat rebranded 'clean meat' to address 'yuck' factor|date=8 September 2016|publisher=GlobalMeatNews|access-date=9 September 2016|archive-date=24 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170524234902/http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Analysis/Lab-made-meat-rebranded-clean-meat|url-status=live}} By 2018 it had surpassed cultured and in vitro in media mentions and Google searches.{{cite web|url=http://www.gfi.org/clean-meat-is-catching-on-a-reflection-on|title="Clean meat" is catching on: a reflection on nomenclature|publisher=The Good Food Institute|date=24 May 2018|access-date=5 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916235543/https://www.gfi.org/clean-meat-is-catching-on-a-reflection-on|archive-date=16 September 2018}} Some stakeholders in cultured meat production, seeking to work with conventional meat producers as allies, felt that the term clean meat unnecessarily tarnished the latter, and went on to prefer cell-based meat as a neutral alternative.{{Cite web|url=https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2018/09/10/Cultured-meat-cos-agree-to-replace-term-clean-meat-with-cell-based-meat-and-form-trade-association|title=Cultured meat cos agree to replace term 'clean meat' with 'cell-based meat' and form trade association|website=foodnavigator-usa.com|date=10 September 2018|access-date=14 October 2019|archive-date=11 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811163604/https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2018/09/10/Cultured-meat-cos-agree-to-replace-term-clean-meat-with-cell-based-meat-and-form-trade-association|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2018/09/30/Clean-meat-is-problematic-but-cell-based-meat-isn-t-perfect-either-reveals-GFI-consumer-research|title='Cell-based meat' not the most consumer-friendly term, reveals GFI consumer research|website=foodnavigator-usa.com|date=30 September 2018|access-date=14 October 2019|archive-date=28 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528151855/https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2018/09/30/Clean-meat-is-problematic-but-cell-based-meat-isn-t-perfect-either-reveals-GFI-consumer-research|url-status=live}}

In September 2019, GFI announced new research which found that the term cultivated meat is sufficiently descriptive and differentiating, possesses a high degree of neutrality, and ranks highly for consumer appeal.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gfi.org/cultivatedmeat|title=Cultivated Meat: Why GFI Is Embracing New Language|date=13 September 2019|website=The Good Food Institute|access-date=14 October 2019|first=Bruce|last=Friedrich|archive-date=13 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513044126/https://gfi.org/blog/cultivated-meat-a-growing-nomenclature-consensus/|url-status=live}} A September 2021 poll indicated that the majority of industry CEOs have a preference for cultivated meat, with 75 percent of 44 companies preferring it.{{Cite web|last=Friedrich|first=Bruce|date=2021-09-29|title=Cultivated meat: A growing nomenclature consensus |url=https://gfi.org/blog/cultivated-meat-a-growing-nomenclature-consensus/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-10-09|website=The Good Food Institute|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001011114/https://gfi.org/blog/cultivated-meat-a-growing-nomenclature-consensus/ |archive-date=1 October 2021 }}

The theoretical possibility of growing meat in an industrial setting has long been of interest. In a 1931 essay published by various periodicals and later included in his work Thoughts and Adventures, British statesman Winston Churchill wrote: "We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium."[https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/churchill-bulletin/bulletin-115-jan-2018/no-bull/ "No Bull".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526170052/https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/churchill-bulletin/bulletin-115-jan-2018/no-bull/ |date=26 May 2022 }} - International Churchill Society

In the 1950s, Dutch researcher Willem van Eelen independently came up with the idea for cultured meat. As a prisoner of war during the Second World War, Van Eelen suffered from starvation, leaving him passionate about food production and food security.{{Cite web|last=Purdy|first=Chase|date=2017-09-24|title=The idea for lab-grown meat was born in a prisoner-of-war camp|url=https://qz.com/1077183/the-idea-for-lab-grown-meat-was-born-in-a-prisoner-of-war-camp/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-09|website=Quartz|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924160836/https://qz.com/1077183/the-idea-for-lab-grown-meat-was-born-in-a-prisoner-of-war-camp/ |archive-date=24 September 2017 }} He attended a university lecture discussing the prospects of preserved meat.{{Cite magazine|last=Specter|first=Michael|date=2011-05-16|title=Test-Tube Burgers|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/05/23/test-tube-burgers|access-date=2021-02-09|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en-us|archive-date=11 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511080821/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/05/23/test-tube-burgers|url-status=live}} The earlier discovery of cell lines provided the basis for the idea. In vitro cultivation of muscle fibers was first performed successfully in 1971 when pathologist Russell Ross cultured guinea pig aorta. In 1991, Jon F. Vein secured patent {{Patent|US|6835390}} for the production of tissue-engineered meat for human consumption, wherein muscle and fat would be grown in an integrated fashion to create food products.{{Cite web|url=https://futuristspeaker.com/future-of-agriculture/the-future-of-the-cultured-meats-industry-in-2040/|title=The Future of the Cultured Meats Industry in 2040|last=Frey|first=Thomas|date=30 May 2019|website=Futurist Speaker|access-date=20 November 2019|archive-date=1 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601033911/https://futuristspeaker.com/future-of-agriculture/the-future-of-the-cultured-meats-industry-in-2040/|url-status=live}}

In 2001, dermatologist Wiete Westerhof along with van Eelen and businessperson Willem van Kooten announced that they had filed for a worldwide patent on a process to produce cultured meat.{{cite patent|country=WO|status=application|number=9931222|title=Industrial scale production of meat from in vitro cell cultures|inventor-last=van Eelen|inventor2-last=van Kooten|inventor3-last=Westerhof|inventor-first=Willem Frederik|inventor2-first=Willem Jan|inventor3-first=Wiete|pubdate=1999-06-24}} The process employed a matrix of collagen seeded with muscle cells bathed in a nutritious solution and induced to divide.{{Cite journal|last1=Kadim|first1=Isam T|last2=Mahgoub|first2=Osman|last3=Baqir|first3=Senan|last4=Faye|first4=Bernard|last5=Purchas|first5=Roger|date=February 2015|title=Cultured meat from muscle stem cells: A review of challenges and prospects|journal=Journal of Integrative Agriculture|volume=14|issue=2|pages=222–233|doi=10.1016/S2095-3119(14)60881-9|doi-access=free|bibcode=2015JIAgr..14..222K }} That same year, NASA began conducting cultured meat experiments, with the intent of allowing astronauts to grow meat instead of transporting it. In partnership with Morris Benjaminson, they cultivated goldfish and turkey.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2066-fish-fillets-grow-in-tank/|title=Fish fillets grow in tank|last=Sample|first=Ian|website=NewScientist|date=March 20, 2020|access-date=4 November 2023|archive-date=4 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104132520/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2066-fish-fillets-grow-in-tank/|url-status=live}} In 2003, Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr exhibited a few centimeters of "steak", grown from frog stem cells, which they cooked and ate. The goal was to start a conversation surrounding the ethics of cultured meat—"was it ever alive?", "was it ever killed?", "is it in any way disrespectful to an animal to throw it away?"{{cite news|title=Ingestion / Disembodied Cuisine|url=http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/16/catts_zurr.php|newspaper=Cabinet Magazine|date=Winter 2004–2005|first1=Oron|last1=Catts|first2=Ionat|last2=Zurr|access-date=3 June 2018|archive-date=30 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030223522/http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/16/catts_zurr.php|url-status=live}}

In the early 2000s, American public health student Jason Matheny traveled to India and visited a factory chicken farm. Appalled by the implications of this system, he later teamed up with three scientists involved in NASA's efforts. In 2004, Matheny founded New Harvest to encourage development by funding research. In 2005, the four published the first peer-reviewed literature on the subject.{{Cite press release | title = Paper Says Edible Meat Can be Grown in a Lab on Industrial Scale | publisher = University of Maryland | date = 6 July 2005 | url = http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/scitech/release.cfm?ArticleID=1098 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050725080845/http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/scitech/release.cfm?ArticleID=1098 | archive-date = 25 July 2005 | access-date = 12 October 2008}}

In May 2008, PETA offered a $1 million prize to the first company to bring cultured chicken meat to consumers by 2012.{{Citation |last = Levine |first = Ketzel |author-link = Ketzel Levine |publisher = National Public Radio |title = Lab-Grown Meat a Reality, But Who Will Eat It? |newspaper = NPR.org |date = 20 May 2008 |url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90235492 |access-date = 10 January 2010 |archive-date = 30 October 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191030223521/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90235492 |url-status = live }} The contestant was required to complete two tasks to earn the prize, namely to produce a cultured chicken meat product that was indistinguishable from real chicken and produce the product in large enough quantities to be competitively sold in at least 10 states. The contest was later extended until 4 March 2014. The deadline eventually expired without a winner.{{Cite web|url=https://www.peta.org/features/vitro-meat-contest/|title=PETA's 'In Vitro' Chicken Contest|date=6 October 2008|website=PETA|language=en-US|access-date=5 December 2019|archive-date=25 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125175500/https://www.peta.org/features/vitro-meat-contest/|url-status=live}}

The Dutch government has invested $4 million into experiments regarding cultured meat.{{cite news|last=Macintyre|first=Ben|author-link=Ben Macintyre|date=20 January 2007|title=Test-tube meat science's next leap|newspaper=The Australian|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/test-tube-meat-sciences-next-leap/story-e6frg8y6-1111112859219|access-date=26 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111102144404/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/test-tube-meat-sciences-next-leap/story-e6frg8y6-1111112859219|archive-date=2 November 2011}} The In Vitro Meat Consortium, a group formed by international researchers, held the first international conference hosted by the Norwegian Food Research Institute in April 2008.{{cite magazine|last=Siegelbaum|first=D.J.|date=23 April 2008|title=In Search of a Test-Tube Hamburger|url=http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1734630,00.html?imw=Y|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122081137/http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1734630,00.html?imw=Y|archive-date=22 January 2010|magazine=Time|access-date=30 April 2009}} Time magazine declared cultured meat production to be one of the 50 breakthrough ideas of 2009.{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1934027_1934003_1933982,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091115062549/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1934027_1934003_1933982,00.html |archive-date=15 November 2009 |title=The 50 Best Inventions of 2009|magazine=Time | date=12 November 2009}} In November 2009, scientists from the Netherlands announced they had managed to grow meat using cells from a live pig.{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6936352.ece|title=Scientists grow pork meat in a laboratory|date=29 November 2009|last=Rogers|first=Lois|newspaper=The Sunday Times|location=London|access-date=8 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106153649/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6936352.ece|archive-date=6 January 2010}}

The first cultured beef burger patty was created by Mark Post at Maastricht University in 2013.{{Cite news|date=5 August 2013|title=World's first lab-grown burger is eaten in London|newspaper=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23576143|access-date=2 February 2016|archive-date=19 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190319164352/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23576143|url-status=live}} It was made from over 20,000 thin strands of muscle tissue, cost over $325,000 and needed 2 years to produce.{{Cite news|last=Fountain|first=Henry|title=Engineering the $325,000 In Vitro Burger|work=The New York Times|date=12 May 2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/science/engineering-the-325000-in-vitro-burger.html|access-date=12 June 2018|archive-date=17 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117130138/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/science/engineering-the-325000-in-vitro-burger.html|url-status=live}} The burger was tested on live television in London on 5 August 2013. It was cooked by chef Richard McGeown of Couch's Great House Restaurant in Polperro, Cornwall, and tasted by critics Hanni Rützler, a food researcher from the Future Food Studio, and Josh Schonwald. Rützler stated, "There is really a bite to it, there is quite some flavour with the browning. I know there is no fat in it so I didn't really know how juicy it would be, but there is quite some intense taste; it's close to meat, it's not that juicy, but the consistency is perfect. This is meat to me... It's really something to bite on and I think the look is quite similar." Rützler added that even in a blind trial she would have taken the product for meat rather than a soya copy.{{Cite news|last1=Hogenboom|first1=Melissa|date=2013-08-05|title=What does a stem cell burger taste like?|newspaper=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23529841|access-date=2 February 2016|archive-date=3 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103052735/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23529841|url-status=live}}

{{Multiple images

| direction= vertical

| image1= First cultured hamburger unfried.png

| image2= First cultured hamburger fried.png

| image3= Hanni Rützler tastes world's first cultured hamburger.png

| footer= The first cultured hamburger: raw, fried, and tasted by Hanni Rützler on 5 August 2013

}}

{{quote box

| quote = It's just a matter of time before this is gonna happen, I'm absolutely convinced of that. In our case, I estimate the time to be about 3 years before we are ready to enter the market on a small scale, about 5 years to enter the market on a larger scale, and if you'd ask me: "When will [cultured meat] be in the supermarket around the corner?" That'll be closer to 10 than to 5 years, I think.

| author = Peter Verstrate, Mosa Meat (2018){{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVEu6TSKhD0 |title=Kweekvlees en vleesvervangers - Rondetafelgesprek 26-9-2018 |work=Arnews |publisher=Dutch House of Representatives |date=26 September 2018 |access-date=23 October 2018 |language=nl |archive-date=3 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903161103/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVEu6TSKhD0&gl=US&hl=en |url-status=live }}{{rp|at=1:06:15}}

| width = 20%

}}

Between 2011 and 2017, many cultured meat startups were launched.{{cite journal |last1=Choudhury |first1=Deepak |last2=Tseng |first2=Ting Wei |last3=Swartz |first3=Elliot |title=The Business of Cultured Meat |journal=Trends in Biotechnology |date=2020 |volume=38 |issue=6 |pages=573–577 |doi=10.1016/j.tibtech.2020.02.012 |pmid=32407686}} Memphis Meats, now known as Upside Foods,{{Cite web|title=Memphis Meats rebrands as UPSIDE Foods, gears up to launch cell-cultured chicken by year-end: 'This is a big historic step for the entire industry'|url=https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2021/05/12/Memphis-Meats-rebrands-as-UPSIDE-Foods-gears-up-to-launch-cell-cultured-chicken-by-year-end|access-date=2022-01-05|website=foodnavigator-usa.com|date=12 May 2021|language=en-GB|archive-date=29 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129062756/https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2021/05/12/Memphis-Meats-rebrands-as-UPSIDE-Foods-gears-up-to-launch-cell-cultured-chicken-by-year-end|url-status=live}} launched a video in February 2016, showcasing its cultured beef meatball.{{cite news|last1=Bunge|first1=Jacob|date=February 1, 2016|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/sizzling-steaks-may-soon-be-lab-grown-1454302862|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=4 February 2016|title=Sizzling Steaks May Soon Be Lab-Grown|archive-date=8 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108114246/https://www.wsj.com/articles/sizzling-steaks-may-soon-be-lab-grown-1454302862|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2016/02/03/world-first-lab-grown-meatball-revealed/|publisher=Fox News|access-date=4 February 2016|title='World's first' lab-grown meatball revealed|archive-date=19 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819141358/http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2016/02/03/world-first-lab-grown-meatball-revealed/|url-status=dead}}{{cite magazine|url=http://fortune.com/2016/02/02/lab-grown-memphis-meats/|magazine=Fortune|access-date=4 February 2016|title=You Could Be Eating Lab-Grown Meat in Just Five Years|date=February 2, 2016|first=Michal|last=Addady|archive-date=5 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205023605/https://fortune.com/2016/02/02/lab-grown-memphis-meats/|url-status=live}} In March 2017, it showcased chicken tenders and duck a l'orange, the first cultured poultry shown to the public.{{cite news|last1=Bunge|first1=Jacob|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/startup-to-serve-up-chicken-strips-cultivated-from-cells-in-lab-1489570202|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=17 March 2017|title=Startup Serves Up Chicken Produced From Cells in Lab|date=March 15, 2017|archive-date=5 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205023607/https://www.wsj.com/articles/startup-to-serve-up-chicken-strips-cultivated-from-cells-in-lab-1489570202|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|last1=Farber|first1=Madeline|url=http://fortune.com/2017/03/15/memphis-meats-lab-grown-chicken-peta/|magazine=Fortune|access-date=17 March 2017|title=A San Francisco Startup Is Serving Chicken That Was Made in a Lab|date=March 15, 2017|archive-date=5 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205023612/https://fortune.com/2017/03/15/memphis-meats-lab-grown-chicken-peta/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Kooser|first1=Amanda|url=https://www.cnet.com/au/news/chicken-duck-meat-memphis-meats-lab-clean/|website=CNET|access-date=17 March 2017|title=This lab-grown chicken and duck meat looks surprisingly delicious March 15, 2017|archive-date=3 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203032726/https://www.cnet.com/au/news/chicken-duck-meat-memphis-meats-lab-clean/|url-status=live}} An Israeli company, SuperMeat, ran a crowdfunding campaign in 2016, for its work on cultured chicken.{{cite web|first=Lulu|last=Chang|url=http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/supermeat-lab-grown-chicken/|date=11 July 2016|title=SuperMeat wants you to try its lab-grown chicken breast|work=Digital Trends|access-date=17 March 2017|archive-date=18 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318141431/http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/supermeat-lab-grown-chicken/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Lab-Grown Chicken Could Soon Be On Your Plate|url=http://news.sky.com/story/lab-grown-chicken-could-soon-be-on-your-plate-10499357|work=Sky News|access-date=5 August 2016|date=12 July 2016|archive-date=10 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810025042/http://news.sky.com/story/lab-grown-chicken-could-soon-be-on-your-plate-10499357|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Chang|first1=Lulu|date=July 11, 2016|title=Would you eat lab grown chicken? SuperMeat sure hopes so|url=https://www.yahoo.com/tech/eat-lab-grown-chicken-supermeat-151513690.html|work=Yahoo News|access-date=5 August 2016|archive-date=9 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809215255/https://www.yahoo.com/tech/eat-lab-grown-chicken-supermeat-151513690.html}}{{Cite news|title=The Israeli Startup That Lets You Eat Meat - Without Eating the Animal|first=Andrew|last=Tobin|url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/1.730666|newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=5 August 2016|date=13 July 2016|archive-date=13 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513044257/https://api.intentiq.com/profiles_engine/ProfilesEngineServlet?at=39&mi=10&dpi=129618961&pt=17&dpn=1&jsver=5.413&iiqidtype=2&iiqpcid=3e64fa3d-f2d7-465c-91de-b9c92d9205f2&iiqpciddate=1715575375548&jaesc=0&jafc=0&jaensc=0&iiqlocalstorageenabled=true&tsrnd=425_1715575376828&cttl=43200000&rrtt=0&dud=0&abtg=A&vrref=www.haaretz.com&japbjs=false&japs=false|url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=No harm, no fowl: Startup to grow chickenless chicken |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/no-harm-no-fowl-startup-to-grow-chickenless-chicken/ |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=13 July 2016 |first=Andrew |last=Tobin |access-date=5 August 2016 |archive-date=17 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817003547/http://www.timesofisrael.com/no-harm-no-fowl-startup-to-grow-chickenless-chicken/? |url-status=live }} Finless Foods, a San Francisco-based company working on cultured fish, was founded in June 2016. In March 2017 it commenced laboratory operations.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/jul/24/lab-grown-food-indiebio-artificial-intelligence-walmart-vegetarian |title=Lab-grown food: 'the goal is to remove the animal from meat production' |first=Jon |last=Card |work=The Guardian |date=24 July 2017 |access-date=13 January 2018 |archive-date=13 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113093201/https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/jul/24/lab-grown-food-indiebio-artificial-intelligence-walmart-vegetarian |url-status=live }}

In March 2018, Eat Just (in 2011 founded as Hampton Creek in San Francisco, later known as Just, Inc.) claimed to be able to offer a consumer product from cultured meat by the end of 2018. According to CEO Josh Tetrick the technology was already there. JUST had about 130 employees and a research department of 55 scientists, where cultured meat from poultry, pork and beef was researched. JUST has received investments from Chinese billionaire Li Ka-shing, Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang and according to Tetrick also by Heineken International and others.{{Cite news |url=https://www.volkskrant.nl/kijkverder/2018/voedselzaak/artikelen/kweekvlees-is-hard-op-weg-naar-uw-bord/ |title=Een écht stukje vlees, zonder dat daar dode dieren aan te pas komen: het komt eraan |author=Mac van Dinther |work=de Volkskrant |date=31 March 2018 |access-date=20 May 2018 |language=nl |archive-date=21 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521104852/https://www.volkskrant.nl/kijkverder/2018/voedselzaak/artikelen/kweekvlees-is-hard-op-weg-naar-uw-bord/ |url-status=live }}

Dutch startup Meatable, consisting of Krijn de Nood, Daan Luining, Ruud Out, Roger Pederson, Mark Kotter and Gordana Apic among others, reported in September 2018 that it had succeeded in growing meat using pluripotent stem cells from animal umbilical cords. Although such cells are reportedly difficult to work with, Meatable claimed to be able to direct them to behave to become muscle or fat cells as needed. The major advantage is that this technique bypasses fetal bovine serum, meaning that no animal has to be killed to produce meat.{{Cite news |url=https://www.businessinsider.nl/lab-grown-meat-startup-solving-barrier-meat-without-slaughter-meatable-2018-9/?international=true&r=US |title=A new lab-grown meat startup may have overcome a key barrier to making meat without slaughter |first=Erin |last=Brodwin |work=Business Insider |date=28 September 2018 |access-date=29 September 2018 |archive-date=6 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906160020/https://www.businessinsider.nl/lab-grown-meat-startup-solving-barrier-meat-without-slaughter-meatable-2018-9/?international=true&r=US |url-status=live }} That month, an estimated 30 cultured meat startups operated across the world. IntegriCulture is a Japan-based company working on their CulNet system.{{what|reason=What is the CulNet system? Could use a brief explanation.|date=December 2024}} Competitors included England based Multus Media and Canadian Future Fields.{{cite news |last1=Shieber |first1=Jonathan |url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/02/future-fields-is-tackling-cultured-meats-biggest-problem/ |title=Future Fields is tackling cultured meat's biggest problem |access-date=12 February 2021 |publisher=TechCrunch |archive-date=9 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209120658/https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/02/future-fields-is-tackling-cultured-meats-biggest-problem/ |url-status=live }}

In August 2019, five American startups announced the formation of the Alliance for Meat, Poultry & Seafood Innovation (AMPS Innovation), a coalition seeking to work with regulators to create a pathway to market for cultured meat and seafood.{{Cite web|url=https://politi.co/30HKLA5|title=Cell-based meat companies join forces|last=Evich|first=Helena Bottemiller|website=Politico |date=29 August 2019|access-date=14 October 2019}} The founding members include Eat Just, Memphis Meats, Finless Foods, BlueNalu, and Fork & Goode.{{Cite web|url=https://qz.com/1698237/cell-cultured-meat-companies-now-have-a-lobbying-group/|title=Cell-cultured meat companies just created a brand-new lobbying group|last=Purdy|first=Chase|website=Quartz|date=29 August 2019|access-date=14 October 2019|archive-date=14 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014233221/https://qz.com/1698237/cell-cultured-meat-companies-now-have-a-lobbying-group/|url-status=live}} Similarly in December 2021, a group of 13 European and Israeli companies (Aleph Farms, Bluu Biosciences, Cubiq Foods, Future Meat, Gourmey, Higher Steaks, Ivy Farm, Meatable, Mirai Foods, Mosa Meat, Peace of Meat, SuperMeat, and Vital Meat) established Cellular Agriculture Europe, a Belgium-based association that sought to 'find common ground and speak with a shared voice for the good of the industry, consumers, and regulators'.{{Cite web |url=https://www.meatable.com/cellular-agriculture-europe/ |title=Meatable becomes a founding member of newly created association for cellular agriculture |author= |work=Meatable.com |publisher=Meatable |date=3 December 2021 |access-date=10 December 2021 |archive-date=10 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211210114107/https://www.meatable.com/cellular-agriculture-europe/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=https://vegconomist.com/cultivated/cellular-agriculture-europe/ |title=Cellular Agriculture Europe Launches to Become the "Voice of the Cultivated Industry" |author= |work=Vegconomist |date=7 December 2021 |access-date=10 December 2021 |archive-date=13 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513044124/https://vegconomist.com/cultivated-cell-cultured-biotechnology/cellular-agriculture-europe/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/cellular-agriculture-europe/ |title=Cellular Agriculture Europe Offers a Powerful Voice to the Cultivated Meat, Seafood, and Ingredients Industry |author=Amy Buxton |work=Green Queen |date=8 December 2021 |access-date=10 December 2021 |archive-date=10 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211210090713/https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/cellular-agriculture-europe/ |url-status=live }}

In October 2019, Aleph Farms collaborated with 3D Bioprinting Solutions to culture meat on the International Space Station. This was done by extruding meat cells onto a scaffold using a 3D printer.{{cite news|last=Smithers|first=Rebecca|date=October 7, 2019|title=First meat grown in space lab 248 miles from Earth|publisher=Guardian News & Media Limited|agency=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/07/wheres-the-beef-248-miles-up-as-first-meat-is-grown-in-a-space-lab|access-date=July 12, 2020}} In January 2020, Quartz found around 30 cultured meat startups, and that Memphis Meats, Just Inc. and Future Meat Technologies were the most advanced because they were building pilot plants.{{Cite news |url=https://qz.com/1788892/memphis-meats-plans-to-build-the-first-us-cell-based-meat-plant/ |title=A startup says it's building a US pilot plant for cell-based meat |first=Chase |last=Purdy |work=Quartz |date=22 January 2020 |access-date=27 May 2020 |archive-date=28 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528124605/https://qz.com/1788892/memphis-meats-plans-to-build-the-first-us-cell-based-meat-plant/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=https://qz.com/1856344/cultured-meat-startups-want-to-fix-the-broken-meat-supply-chain/ |title=As the US meat supply chain fumbles, cultured meat startups consider a better system |first=Chase |last=Purdy |work=Quartz |date=13 May 2020 |access-date=27 May 2020 |archive-date=28 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528102452/https://qz.com/1856344/cultured-meat-startups-want-to-fix-the-broken-meat-supply-chain/amp/ |url-status=live }} According to New Scientist in May 2020, 60 start-ups were developing cultured meat. Some of these were technology suppliers.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24032080-400-accelerating-the-cultured-meat-revolution/ |title=Accelerating the cultured meat revolution |work=New Scientist |date=20 May 2020 |access-date=27 May 2020 |archive-date=30 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530052612/https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24032080-400-accelerating-the-cultured-meat-revolution/ |url-status=live }} Growth media reportedly still cost "hundreds of dollars per litre, but for clean meat production to scale this needs to drop to around $1 a litre." In June 2020, Chinese government officials called for a national strategy to compete in cultured meat.{{Cite web|date=2020-06-25|title=Chinese Official Calls for National Strategy to Allow China to Keep up With Other Countries Making Progress in Cultured Meat|url=https://vegconomist.com/society/chinese-official-calls-for-national-strategy-to-allow-china-to-keep-up-with-other-countries-making-progress-in-cultured-meat/|access-date=August 12, 2020|website=Vegconomist|language=en-US|archive-date=20 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720223943/https://vegconomist.com/society/chinese-official-calls-for-national-strategy-to-allow-china-to-keep-up-with-other-countries-making-progress-in-cultured-meat/|url-status=live}}

In December 2019, the Foieture project was launched in Belgium with the goal of developing cultured foie gras (the name is a portmanteau of 'foie' and 'future') by a consortium of 3 companies (cultured-meat startup Peace of Meat, small meat-seasoning company Solina, and small pâté-producing company Nauta) and 3 non-profit institutes (university KU Leuven, food industry innovation centre Flanders Food, and Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant).{{Cite news|author=Dieter De Cleene|date=17 December 2019|title=Vlaanderen investeert in kweekvlees|language=nl|work=Eos Wetenschap (magazine)|url=https://www.eoswetenschap.eu/voeding/vlaanderen-investeert-kweekvlees|access-date=26 May 2020|archive-date=29 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029191056/https://www.eoswetenschap.eu/voeding/vlaanderen-investeert-kweekvlees|url-status=live}} Peace of Meat stated in December 2019 that it intended to complete its proof of concept in 2020, to produce its first prototype in 2022, and to go to market in 2023. That month, the Foieture project received a research grant of almost 3.6 million euros from the Innovation and Enterprise Agency of the Flemish Government. In May 2020, Peace of Meat's Austrian-born cofounder and scientific researcher Eva Sommer stated that the startup was then able to produce 20 grams of cultured fat at a cost of about 300 euros (€15,000/kg); the goal was to reduce the price to 6 euros per kilogram by 2030.{{Cite news |url=https://www.vmt.nl/duurzaamheid-mvo/nieuws/2020/05/belgisch-bedrijf-bouwt-2-labos-voor-kweekvlees-10141488 |title=Belgisch bedrijf bouwt 2 labo's voor kweekvlees |author=Yves Degroote |work=VTM |date=8 May 2020 |access-date=27 May 2020 |language=nl |archive-date=2 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102150938/https://www.vmt.nl/duurzaamheid-mvo/nieuws/2020/05/belgisch-bedrijf-bouwt-2-labos-voor-kweekvlees-10141488 |url-status=live }} Piece of Meat built two laboratories in the Port of Antwerp. In late 2020, MeaTech acquired Peace of Meat for 15 million euros, and announced in May 2021 that it would build a new large-scale pilot plant in Antwerp by 2022.{{Cite news |url=https://www.tijd.be/ondernemen/voeding-drank/plannen-voor-belgische-proeffabriek-voor-kweekvet/10305522.html |title=Plannen voor Belgische proeffabriek voor kweekvet |author=Bert Broens, Jens Cardinaels |work=De Tijd |date=14 May 2021 |access-date=7 December 2021 |language=nl |archive-date=7 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207082202/https://www.tijd.be/ondernemen/voeding-drank/plannen-voor-belgische-proeffabriek-voor-kweekvet/10305522.html |url-status=live }}

In November 2020, Indian start-up Clear Meat claimed it had managed to cultivate chicken mince at the cost of only 800–850 Indian rupees (US$10.77–11.44), while a slaughtered processed chicken cost about 1,000 rupees.{{Cite web |url=https://vegconomist.com/companies-and-portraits/indian-cell-based-meat-company-claims-it-has-achieved-price-parity/ |title=Indian Cell-Based Meat Company Claims it Has Achieved Price Parity |work=Vegconomist |date=30 November 2020 |access-date=8 December 2021 |archive-date=8 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208031810/https://vegconomist.com/companies-and-portraits/indian-cell-based-meat-company-claims-it-has-achieved-price-parity/ |url-status=live }} On 27 April 2022, the European Commission approved the request for the collection of signatures for the European Citizens' Initiative End The Slaughter Age to shift subsidies from animal husbandry to cellular agriculture.{{Cite news|url=https://www.fanpage.it/innovazione/scienze/ue-approva-raccolta-firme-per-stop-sussidi-agli-allevamenti-e-incentivare-carne-vegetale-e-coltivata/|title=UE approva raccolta firme per togliere i sussidi agli allevamenti e incentivare la carne vegetale e coltivata|website=Fanpage.it|language=it|access-date=4 June 2022|archive-date=31 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531131551/https://www.fanpage.it/innovazione/scienze/ue-approva-raccolta-firme-per-stop-sussidi-agli-allevamenti-e-incentivare-carne-vegetale-e-coltivata/|url-status=live}}

According to a November 2023 report by Oghma Partners, 46.9% of all funds – over 2.6 billion British pounds – raised for cultivated meat start-ups between 2016 and 2023 went to a top five, comprising Upside Foods (21.5%; formerly Memphis Meats), Believer Meats (formerly Future Meat Technologies), Wildtype, Aleph Farms, and Mosa Meat.{{Cite web |title=Consolidation on the way in cultured meat sector |author= |work=Foodservice Footprint |date=2 November 2023 |access-date=18 April 2024 |url=https://www.foodservicefootprint.com/consolidation-on-the-way-in-cultured-meat-sector/ |archive-date=18 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240418175133/https://www.foodservicefootprint.com/consolidation-on-the-way-in-cultured-meat-sector/ |url-status=live }}

{{quote box

| quote = There is a handful [of startups]. It's quite interesting to see, there are three hubs: one in Silicon Valley, one in the Netherlands and one in Israel. I think that's because these three places have firstly, a great agricultural university – we've got Wageningen; secondly, a great medical university – for us that's Leiden; and finally we've got Delft on the engineering side. Those three combined gives you a firm basis to [develop cultured meat], and that [combination] exists in Israel, the Netherlands and America.

| author = Krijn de Nood, Meatable (2020){{Cite news |url=https://www.emerce.nl/interviews/krijn-de-nood-meatable |title=Krijn de Nood (Meatable): 'Wij pionieren een nieuwe manier van vlees maken' |author=Gijs Vroom |work=Emerce |date=4 March 2020 |access-date=26 May 2020 |archive-date=26 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026223603/https://www.emerce.nl/interviews/krijn-de-nood-meatable |url-status=live }}

| width = 20%

}}

{{multiple images

| perrow= 2

| image1= Cultivated sausages, Ivy Farm, 2023.jpg

| caption1= Cultivated sausages from Ivy Farm, 2023

| image2= Cultivated pork belly, 2020.jpg

| caption2= Cultivated pork belly from Uncommon, 2020

| image3= Cultivated fish maw, 2019.jpg

| caption3= Cultivated fish maw from Avant, 2019

| image4= Cultivated salmon, 2020.jpg

| caption4= Cultivated salmon from Wildtype, 2020

}}

In the European Union, novel foods such as cultured meat products have to go through a testing period of about 18 months during which a company must prove to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that their product is safe.{{Cite web |url=https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2019/11/05/Biotech-Foods-discusses-cultured-meat-trend |title='Everybody accepts the cultured meat trend is happening': Biotech Foods |author=Oliver Morrison |access-date=2020-07-24 |work=Food Navigator |date=5 November 2019 |language=en-GB |archive-date=11 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811043902/https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2019/11/05/Biotech-Foods-discusses-cultured-meat-trend |url-status=live }} In March 2022, cultured meat producers had reached the level of attempting to gain regulatory approval from European Union supranational institutions coming just before mass goods could be sold to consumers. By February 2023, none had yet submitted a novel food dossier for approval by the EFSA. Legal experts explained this as having to do with the fact that, although the EFSA's novel food procedure has been well-established since 1997 (unlike in other jurisdictions, that still have or had to develop certain regulatory standards), it is a long and complicated process in which companies can have little input once they have submitted their request, unlike cultured meat startups in the United States (who could easily communicate back and forth with the FDA to clarify any issues), and in the UK, Singapore and Israel (where governments have implemented a 'single point of contact' responsible for the overall process).

In April 2024, the Dutch start-up Meatable was the first in the EU to receive regulatory approval from the EFSA for a public proof of concept tasting of cultured meat, in this case sausage, amid much international and national media attention.{{Cite news |title=EU Bites Into Cultivated Meat As Meatable Sets First Sausage Tasting |last=De Lorenzo |first=Daniela |work=Forbes |date=17 April 2024 |access-date=17 April 2024 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/danieladelorenzo/2024/04/17/eu-bites-into-cultivated-meat-as-meatable-sets-first-sausage-tasting/ |archive-date=17 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417123753/https://www.forbes.com/sites/danieladelorenzo/2024/04/17/eu-bites-into-cultivated-meat-as-meatable-sets-first-sausage-tasting/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |title=Eerste proeverij kweekvlees in Nederland: 'Het is een doodgewoon worstje' |trans-title=First cultured meat tasting in Netherlands: 'It's just an ordinary sausage' |author=Judith van de Hulsbeek |work=NOS.nl |date=17 April 2024 |access-date=17 April 2024 |url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2517168-eerste-proeverij-kweekvlees-in-nederland-het-is-een-doodgewoon-worstje |language=nl |archive-date=17 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417184110/https://nos.nl/artikel/2517168-eerste-proeverij-kweekvlees-in-nederland-het-is-een-doodgewoon-worstje |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Exclusive: Meatable Hosts EU-First Cultivated Meat Tasting Event |last=Mridul |first=Anay |work=Green Queen |date=17 April 2024 |access-date=17 April 2024 |url=https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/meatable-public-tasting-cultivated-meat-lab-grown-pork-netherlands/ |archive-date=17 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417112309/https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/meatable-public-tasting-cultivated-meat-lab-grown-pork-netherlands/ |url-status=live }} Meatable CTO Daan Luining cautioned it would take several years to scale up production to serve all supermarkets, that cultured meat was just an alternative that would gradually become more widely available, giving consumers more choices, and that the traditional meat industry would not be replaced any time soon.

In November 2020, SuperMeat opened a test restaurant in Ness Ziona, Israel, right next to its pilot plant; journalists, experts and a small number of consumers could book an appointment to taste the novel food there, while looking through a glass window into the production facility on the other side. The restaurant was not yet fully open to the public, because as of June 2021 SuperMeat still needed to wait for regulatory approval to start mass production for public consumption, and because the COVID-19 pandemic restricted restaurant operations.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/dec/04/no-kill-lab-grown-chicken-burger-restaurant-israel |title=I tried the world's first no-kill, lab-grown chicken burger |author=Oliver Holmes |work=The Guardian |date=4 December 2021 |access-date=6 December 2021 |archive-date=13 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513044556/https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/dec/04/no-kill-lab-grown-chicken-burger-restaurant-israel |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/lab-grown-chicken-food-revolution-gathers-pace-at-ness-ziona-eatery/ |title=Lab-grown chicken 'food revolution' gathers pace at Ness Ziona eatery |author=Jonah Mandel |work=Times of Israel |date=23 June 2021 |access-date=6 December 2021 |archive-date=6 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206084619/https://www.timesofisrael.com/lab-grown-chicken-food-revolution-gathers-pace-at-ness-ziona-eatery/ |url-status=live }} By February 2023, Israeli authorities had established a regulatory structure similar to that of Singapore, and shown a general willingness to work towards approval (as well as financing research for cultivated food innovation), but were still in the process of developing safety regulations in consultations with researchers and other experts. For example, the Israeli Health Ministry and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) co-organised a convention of cultivated food safety regulation experts in September 2022.{{Cite web |title=Dissecting cultivated meat regulation part 1: What's working in Europe and Israel, and what's not? |author=Flora Southey |work=foodnavigator.com |date=8 February 2023 |access-date=1 May 2023 |url=https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2023/02/08/Dissecting-cultivated-meat-regulation-part-1-What-s-working-in-Europe-and-Israel-and-what-s-not |archive-date=28 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328111517/https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2023/02/08/Dissecting-cultivated-meat-regulation-part-1-What-s-working-in-Europe-and-Israel-and-what-s-not |url-status=live }}

In January 2024, the Ministry of Health in Israel granted regulatory approval for cultured beef to Aleph Farms.{{Cite news |last=מן |first=יובל |date=2024-01-17 |title=לראשונה בעולם: ישראל מאשרת בשר בקר מתורבת |url=https://www.ynet.co.il/digital/technews/article/hkbdz1nft |access-date=2024-01-17 |work=Ynet |language=he |archive-date=17 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117104937/https://www.ynet.co.il/digital/technews/article/hkbdz1nft |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Israel Becomes First Country to Allow Sale of Cultured Beef |last=Mridul |first=Anay |work=Green Queen |date=17 January 2024 |access-date=17 April 2024 |url=https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/aleph-farms-israel-cultured-meat-regulatory-approval-beef/ |archive-date=17 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417112515/https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/aleph-farms-israel-cultured-meat-regulatory-approval-beef/ |url-status=live }}

On 2 December 2020, the Singapore Food Agency approved the "chicken bites" produced by Eat Just for commercial sale. It marked the first time that a cultured meat product passed the safety review (which took 2 years) of a food regulator, and was widely regarded as a milestone for the industry. The chicken bits were scheduled for introduction in Singaporean restaurants.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/02/no-kill-lab-grown-meat-to-go-on-sale-for-first-time |title=No-kill, lab-grown meat to go on sale for first time |author=Damian Carrington |work=The Guardian |date=2 December 2020 |access-date=2 December 2020 |archive-date=2 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202000302/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/02/no-kill-lab-grown-meat-to-go-on-sale-for-first-time |url-status=live }} Restaurant "1880" became the first to serve cultured meat to customers on Saturday 19 December 2020.{{Cite news |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/18/singapore-restaurant-first-ever-to-serve-eat-just-lab-grown-chicken.html |title=This restaurant will be the first ever to serve lab-grown chicken (for $23) |author=Jade Scipioni |work=CNBC |date=18 December 2020 |access-date=6 December 2021 |archive-date=17 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217130220/https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/18/singapore-restaurant-first-ever-to-serve-eat-just-lab-grown-chicken.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201220005063/en/Eat-Just-Makes-History-Again-with-Restaurant-Debut-of-Cultured-Meat |title=Eat Just Makes History (Again) with Restaurant Debut of Cultured Meat |author=Andrew Noyes |work=Business Wire |date=21 December 2020 |access-date=6 December 2021 |archive-date=20 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220082013/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201220005063/en/Eat-Just-Makes-History-Again-with-Restaurant-Debut-of-Cultured-Meat |url-status=live }}

In January 2023, the SFA also granted regulatory approval for the production of cultured meat with serum-free media to Eat Just subsidiary GOOD Meat, which had introduced its clean chicken product in several more Singaporean restaurants as well as hawker centres and food delivery services since 2020, and was constructing the bioreactors for its new facility in Singapore.{{Cite web |title=World first: Singapore gives GOOD Meat approval to to[sic] commercialise serum-free media for cultivated meat |author=Gary Scattergood |work=foodnavigator.com |date=18 January 2023 |access-date=1 May 2023 |url=https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2023/01/18/world-first-singapore-gives-good-meat-approval-to-to-commercialise-serum-free-media-for-cultivated-meat |archive-date=30 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530070250/https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2023/01/18/world-first-singapore-gives-good-meat-approval-to-to-commercialise-serum-free-media-for-cultivated-meat |url-status=live }} This world-first approval was said to be a milestone in making cultivated meat production more scalable and efficient. In April 2024, Australian start-up Vow obtained Singaporean approval for its cultured quail; while Dutch start-up Meatable would be introducing its cultivated pork sausages in several restaurants in Singapore later in 2024.

In November 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) completed the pre-market consultation of Upside Foods (formerly Memphis Meats), concluding that its products were safe to eat, a first for cultivated meat companies in the United States.{{Cite web |title=FDA gives safety nod to 'no kill' meat, bringing it closer to sale in the U.S. |author=Allison Aubrey |work=NPR |date=14 November 2022 |access-date=1 May 2023 |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/11/14/1136186819/cultivated-cultured-meat-heathy-climate-change |archive-date=3 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503145907/https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/11/14/1136186819/cultivated-cultured-meat-heathy-climate-change |url-status=live }} Approval from the final agency, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was received by Upside Foods and Good Meat, both for cultivated chicken, in June 2023.{{Cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Food/fda-approves-1st-cell-cultivated-meat-upside-foods/story?id=100278334 |title=USDA approves 1st ever 'cell-cultivated meat' for 2 American manufacturers |website=ABC News |access-date=24 June 2023 |archive-date=24 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624070354/https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Food/fda-approves-1st-cell-cultivated-meat-upside-foods/story?id=100278334 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Breaking: Upside Foods, Eat Just Earn First USDA Approval To Sell Cultivated Meat in The U.S.: 'A Giant Step Forward' |author=Green Queen Team |work=Green Queen |date=22 June 2023 |access-date=17 April 2024 |url=https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/upside-foods-eat-just-first-usda-approval-to-sell-cultivated-meat/ |archive-date=17 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417112351/https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/upside-foods-eat-just-first-usda-approval-to-sell-cultivated-meat/ |url-status=live }}

On 6 February 2025, it was announced that British pet food company THE PACK would release the first commercially available product for pets containing cultivated chicken made by Meatly the following day.{{Cite web |last=Grylls |first=Bethan |date=6 February 2025 |title=UK cultivated meat manufacturer Meatly has achieved another first, after gaining UK regulatory approval for its cultivated meat in July 2024. |url=HTTPS://WWW.FOODMANUFACTURE.CO.UK/ARTICLE/2025/02/06/MEATLY-AND-THE-PACK-LAUNCH-PET-TREATS-MADE-FROM-LAB-GROWN-MEAT-INTO-PETS-AT-HOME/ |access-date=8 April 2025 |website=Food Manufacture}}

{{See|List of cultured meat companies}}

File:CultMeatProdEN.svg

Cellular agriculture requires cell lines, generally stem cells. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells which have the potential to become many or all of the required kinds of specialized cell types. Totipotent stem cells have the capacity to differentiate into all the different cell types found within the body. Pluripotent stem cells can mature into all cell types save those in the placenta, and multipotent stem cells can differentiate into several specialized cell types within one lineage. Unipotent stem cells can differentiate into one specific cell fate.{{Cite web|title=Frequently asked questions about stem cell research|url=https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bone-marrow-transplant/in-depth/stem-cells/art-20048117|access-date=2020-10-17|website=Mayo Clinic|language=en|archive-date=18 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018034746/https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bone-marrow-transplant/in-depth/stem-cells/art-20048117|url-status=live}}

File:Stem cell differentiation.svg

While pluripotent stem cells would be an ideal source, the most prominent example of this subcategory is embryonic stem cells which—due to ethical issues—are controversial for use in research. As a result, scientists have developed induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)—essentially multipotent blood and skin cells that have been regressed to a pluripotent state enabling them to differentiate into a greater range of cells.{{Cite web|title=Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS) {{!}} UCLA Broad Stem Cell Center|url=https://stemcell.ucla.edu/induced-pluripotent-stem-cells#:~:text=iPSC%20are%20derived%20from%20skin,cell%20needed%20for%20therapeutic%20purposes.|access-date=2020-10-17|website=stemcell.ucla.edu|archive-date=18 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018073232/https://stemcell.ucla.edu/induced-pluripotent-stem-cells#:~:text=iPSC%20are%20derived%20from%20skin,cell%20needed%20for%20therapeutic%20purposes.|url-status=live}} The alternative is using multipotent adult stem cells that give rise to muscle cell lineages or unipotent progenitors which differentiate into muscle cells.

Favourable characteristics of stem cells include immortality, proliferative ability, unreliance on adherence, serum independence and easy differentiation into tissue. The natural presence of such characteristics are likely to differ across cell species and origin. As such, in vitro cultivation must be adjusted to fill the exact needs of a specific cell line. The immortality issue is that cells have a limit on the number of times they can divide that is dictated by their telomere cap—supplementary nucleotide bases added to the end of their chromosomes. With each division, the telomere cap progressively shortens until nothing remains, at which time the cells cease to divide. Induced pluripotency can lengthen telomere cap such that the cells divide indefinitely.

Cell lines can be collected from a primary source, i.e., through a biopsy on an animal under local anesthesia. They could also be established from secondary sources such as cryopreserved cultures (cultures frozen after previous research).{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

File:Myoblasts.png

Once cell lines are established, they are immersed in a culture medium to induce them to proliferate. Culture media are typically formulated from basal media that provide cells with necessary carbohydrates, fats, proteins and salts. Once a cell consumes a sufficient amount, it divides and the population increases exponentially. Culture media can be supplemented with additives—for instance sera—that supply additional growth factors. Growth factors can be secreted proteins or steroids that are crucial in regulating cellular processes.

Once differentiation begins, muscle fibres begin to contract and generate lactic acid. Cells' ability to absorb nutrients and proliferate in part depends on the pH of their environment. As lactic acid accumulates within the medium, the environment will become progressively more acidic and falls below the optimal pH. As a result, culture media must be frequently refreshed. This helps refresh the concentration of nutrients from the basal media.

File:Muscle Tissue Smooth (40087100000).jpg

In the case of structured meat products—products that are characterized by their overall configuration as well as cell type—cells must be seeded to scaffolds. Scaffolds are essentially molds meant to reflect and encourage the cells to organize into a larger structure. When cells develop in vivo, they are influenced by their interactions with the extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM is the 3-dimensional mesh of glycoproteins, collagen and enzymes responsible for transmitting mechanical and biochemical cues to the cell. Scaffolds need to simulate the characteristics of the ECM.

Pores are minute openings on the surface of the scaffold. They can be created on the surface of the biomaterial in order to release cellular components that could interfere with tissue development. They also help diffuse gas and nutrients to the innermost layers of adherent cells, preventing a "necrotic center" from forming. A necrotic center is a phenomenon in which cells that are not in direct contact with the culture medium die from a lack of nutrients.

Vascular tissue found in plants contains the organs responsible for internally transporting fluids. It forms natural topographies that provide a low cost way to promote cell alignment by replicating the natural physiological state of myoblasts. It may also help with gas and nutrient exchange.

A scaffold's biochemical properties should be similar to those of the ECM. It must facilitate cell adhesion through textural qualities or chemical bonding. Additionally, it must produce the chemical cues that encourage cell differentiation. Alternatively, the material should be able to blend with other substances which have these functional qualities.

The degree of a material's crystallinity determines qualities such as rigidity. High crystallinity can be attributed to hydrogen bonding which in turn increases thermal stability, tensile strength (important for maintaining the scaffold's shape), water retention (important for hydrating the cells) and Young's modulus.

Certain materials degrade into compounds that are beneficial to cells, although this degradation can also be irrelevant or detrimental. Degradation allows easy removal of the scaffold from the finished product leaving only animal tissue—thereby increasing its resemblance to in vivo meat. This degradation can be induced by exposure to certain enzymes which do not impact the muscle tissue.

If scaffolds are unable to be removed from the animal tissue, they must be edible to ensure consumer safety. It would be beneficial if they were to be made out of nutritious ingredients. Since 2010, academic research groups and companies have been working to identify raw materials that have the characteristics of suitable scaffolds.

Cellulose is the most abundant polymer in nature and provides the exoskeletons of plant leaves. Due to its abundance, it can be obtained at a relatively low cost. It is also versatile and biocompatible. Through a process called "decellularization", it is coated in a surfactant that creates pores. These pores release the plant's cellular components, and it becomes decellularized plant tissue. This material has been extensively studied by the Pelling and Gaudette Groups at University of Ottawa and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, respectively. Through cross-linking (forming covalent bonds between individual polymer chains to hold them together) the plant tissue's mechanical properties can be changed so that it more closely resembles muscle tissue. This can also be done by blending plant tissue with other materials. On the other hand, decellularized plant tissue typically lacks mammalian biochemical cues, so it needs to be coated with compensatory functional proteins. C2C12 growth was not shown to change significantly between the bare scaffold and the same scaffold with a coating of collagen or gelatin proteins; however, seeding efficiency (rate at which cells attach to the scaffold) improved.{{Cite journal|last1=Campuzano|first1=Santiago|last2=Pelling|first2=Andrew E.|date=2019|title=Scaffolds for 3D Cell Culture and Cellular Agriculture Applications Derived From Non-animal Sources|journal=Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems|language=en|volume=3|doi=10.3389/fsufs.2019.00038|s2cid=157058210|issn=2571-581X|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Adamski|first1=Michal|last2=Fontana|first2=Gianluca|last3=Gershlak|first3=Joshua R.|last4=Gaudette|first4=Glenn R.|last5=Le|first5=Hau D.|last6=Murphy|first6=William L.|date=2018-05-31|title=Two Methods for Decellularization of Plant Tissues for Tissue Engineering Applications|journal=Journal of Visualized Experiments |issue=135|doi=10.3791/57586|issn=1940-087X|pmc=6101437|pmid=29912197}}

An advantage of decellularized plant tissue is the natural topography afforded by the leaf vasculature. This helps replicate the natural physiological state of the myoblasts which promotes cell alignment. The other ways of doing this are usually quite a bit more expensive including 3D printing, soft lithography and photolithography. Vascularization can also help overcome the 100–200 nm diffusion limit of culture medium into cells that usually produce necrotic centres in muscle conglomerates. Another way to do this is by having a porous scaffold which supports angiogenesis (the development of new blood vessels). While this has been shown to work for apple Hypanthium, not all plants are nearly as porous. The alternative to plant cellulose is bacterial cellulose which is typically more pure than plant cellulose as it is free from contaminants such as lignin and hemicellulose. Bacterial cellulose has more hydrogen bonding between its polymer strands and so it has greater crystallinity. It also has smaller microfibrils that allow it to retain more moisture and have smaller pores. The substance can be produced using waste carbohydrates (which may allow it to be produced less expensively) and it adds juiciness and chewiness to emulsified meat (which would mean that even if it can't be taken out of the final product, it will contribute to the texture profile).

Decellularized plants that have been studied as possible scaffold materials include spinach, bamboo, algae, apple, celery, and Aloe vera.{{cite journal |last1=Gome |first1=Gilad |last2=Chak |first2=Benyamin |last3=Tawil |first3=Shadi |last4=Rotem |first4=Itai |last5=Ribarski-Chorev |first5=Ivana |last6=Giron |first6=Jonathan |last7=Shoseyov |first7=Oded |last8=Schlesinger |first8=Sharon |title=Cultivation of bovine lipid chunks on Aloe vera scaffolds |journal=npj Science of Food |date=25 February 2025 |volume=9 |issue=1 |doi=10.1038/s41538-025-00391-1|pmc=11862248 }}{{cite journal |last1=Nurul Alam |first1=A.M.M. |last2=Kim |first2=Chan-Jin |last3=Kim |first3=So-Hee |last4=Kumari |first4=Swati |last5=Lee |first5=Eun-Yeong |last6=Hwang |first6=Young-Hwa |last7=Joo |first7=Seon-Tea |title=Scaffolding fundamentals and recent advances in sustainable scaffolding techniques for cultured meat development |journal=Food Research International |date=August 2024 |volume=189 |pages=114549 |doi=10.1016/j.foodres.2024.114549|arxiv=2401.02691 }}

Chitin is nature's second most abundant polymer. It is found in the exoskeletons of arthropods and fungi. As cellular agriculture is attempting to end reliance on animals, chitin derived from fungi is of greater interest. It has mostly been studied by Pelling Group. Chitosan is derived from chitin in a process known as alkaline deacetylation (substituting out certain amino acid groups). The degree of this process determines the physical and chemical properties of the chitosan. Chitosan has antibacterial properties; in particular, it has bactericidal effects on planktonic bacteria and biofilms and a bacteria static effects on gram negative bacteria such as E. coli. This is important as it neutralizes potentially harmful compounds without using antibiotics, which many consumers avoid. Chitosan's resemblance to glycosaminoglycans and internal interactions between glycoproteins and proteoglycans make it highly biocompatible. It can easily blend with other polymers in order to select for more bioactive factors. One potential disadvantage of chitosan is that it degrades in the presence of lysozymes (naturally occurring enzymes). But, this can be resisted using deacetylation. This is not entirely negative, as the byproducts produced through degradation have anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. It is important to match the level that cells rely on the matrix for structure with degradation.

Collagen is a family of proteins that makes up the primary structure of human connective tissue. It is typically derived from bovine, porcine and murine sources. Cellular agriculture overcomes this dependency through the use of transgenic organisms that are capable of producing the amino acid repeats that make up the collagen. Collagen naturally exists as collagen type I. It has been produced as porous hydrogels, composites and substrates with topographical cues and biochemical properties. Synthetic kinds of collagen have been produced through recombinant protein production—collagen type II and III, tropoelastin and fibronectin. One challenge with these proteins is that they can not be modified post translation. However, an alternative fibrillar protein has been isolated in microbes that lack collagen's biochemical cues, but has its kind of gene customizability. One focus of recombinant collagen production is yield optimization—how it can be produced most effectively. Plants, in particular, tobacco look like the best option, however, bacteria and yeast are also viable alternatives.

Textured soy protein is a soy flour product often used in plant-based meat that supports the growth of bovine cells. Its spongy texture enables efficient cell seeding and its porosity encourages oxygen transfer. Additionally, it degrades during cell differentiation into compounds that are beneficial to certain cells.

Mycelium are the roots of mushrooms. Altast Foods Co. is using solid state fermentation to grow mushroom tissue on mycelium scaffolds. They harvest this tissue and use it to create bacon analogs.{{Cite web|title=Atlast Food Co.|url=https://www.atlastfood.co/|access-date=2020-10-18|website=Atlast Food Co.|language=en-US|archive-date=21 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021053354/https://www.atlastfood.co/|url-status=live}}

Nanomaterials exhibit unique properties at the nanoscale. London-based Biomimetic Solutions is leveraging nanomaterials in order to create scaffolds.{{Cite journal|last1=Ben-Arye|first1=Tom|last2=Shandalov|first2=Yulia|last3=Ben-Shaul|first3=Shahar|last4=Landau|first4=Shira|last5=Zagury|first5=Yedidya|last6=Ianovici|first6=Iris|last7=Lavon|first7=Neta|last8=Levenberg|first8=Shulamit|date=April 2020|title=Textured soy protein scaffolds enable the generation of three-dimensional bovine skeletal muscle tissue for cell-based meat|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-020-0046-5|journal=Nature Food|language=en|volume=1|issue=4|pages=210–220|doi=10.1038/s43016-020-0046-5|s2cid=216199677|issn=2662-1355|access-date=19 October 2020|archive-date=2 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102003120/https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-020-0046-5|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}} Cass Materials in Perth, Australia, is using a dietary fibre called Nata de Coco (derived from coconuts) to create nanocellulose sponges for their BNC scaffold. Nata de Coco is biocompatible, has high porosity, facilitates cell adhesion and is biodegradable.{{Cite web|title=Cass Materials|url=https://cassmaterials.com/|access-date=2020-10-18|language=en-AU|archive-date=19 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019094333/https://cassmaterials.com/|url-status=live}}

Immersion Jet Spinning is a method of creating scaffolds by spinning polymers into fibres. It was developed by the Parker Group at Harvard. Their platform uses centrifugal force to extrude a polymer solution through an opening in a rotating reservoir. During extrusion, the solution forms a jet that elongates and aligns as it crosses the air gap. The jet is directed into a vortex-controlled precipitation bath that chemically cross links or precipitates polymer nanofibers. Adjusting air gap, rotation and the solution changes the diameter of the resulting fibres. This method can spin scaffolds out of PPTA, nylon, DNA and nanofiber sheets. A nanofibrous scaffold made from alginate and gelatin was able to support the growth of C2C12 cells. Rabbit and bovine aortic smooth muscle myoblasts were able to adhere to the gelatin fibres.{{cite journal | vauthors = MacQueen L, Alver C, Chantre C, Ahn S, Cera L, Gonzalez G, O'Connor B, Drennan D, Peters M, Motta S, Zimmerman J, Parker K | title = Muscle tissue engineering in fibrous gelatin: implications for meat analogs | journal = npj Science of Food | volume = 3 | issue = 20 | pages = 1-12 | date = October 2019 | pmid = 31646181 | doi = 10.1038/s41538-019-0054-8 }} They formed aggregates on shorter fibres, and aligned tissue on the longer ones.{{Cite journal|last1=Gonzalez|first1=Grant M.|last2=MacQueen|first2=Luke A.|last3=Lind|first3=Johan U.|last4=Fitzgibbons|first4=Stacey A.|last5=Chantre|first5=Christophe O.|last6=Huggler|first6=Isabelle|last7=Golecki|first7=Holly M.|last8=Goss|first8=Josue A.|last9=Parker|first9=Kevin Kit|date=2017|title=Production of Synthetic, Para-Aramid and Biopolymer Nanofibers by Immersion Rotary Jet-Spinning|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/mame.201600365|journal=Macromolecular Materials and Engineering|volume=302|issue=1|page=1600365|doi=10.1002/mame.201600365|issn=1439-2054|access-date=19 October 2020|archive-date=19 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019075117/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/mame.201600365|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}} Matrix Meats is using electrospinning—a process that uses electric force to turn charged polymers into fibres for scaffolds. Their scaffolds allowed meat marbling, are compatible with multiple cell lines, and are scalable.{{Cite web|title=Matrix Meats|url=https://www.matrixmeats.com/|access-date=2020-10-18|website=Matrix Meats|language=en-US|archive-date=19 October 2020|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019193128/https://www.matrixmeats.com/}}

File:Assembly of fibrous muscle, fat, and vascular tissues to cultured steak.webp that assembles cell fibers could be used to produce a variety of steak-like cultured meat.]]

Another proposed way of structuring muscle tissue is additive manufacturing. Such a technique was perfected for industrial applications in manufacturing objects made out of plastic, metal, glass and other synthetic materials. The most common variation of the process involves incrementally depositing a filament in layers onto a bed until the object is completed. This method will most likely lend itself best to the application of cultured meat as opposed to other types such as binder jetting, material jetting or stereolithography that require a specific kind of resin or powder.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

A filament of muscle cells can be printed into a structure meant to resemble a finished meat product which can then be further processed for cell maturation. This technique has been demonstrated in a collaboration between 3D bioprinting solutions and Aleph Farms that used additive manufacturing to structure turkey cells on the International Space Station.{{Cite web|url=https://meatech3d.com/|title=Home|work=MeaTech|access-date=28 February 2020|archive-date=1 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101051650/https://meatech3d.com/}} 3D bioprinting has been used to produce steak-like cultured meat, composed of three types of bovine cell fibers and with a structure of assembled of cell fibers that is similar to original meat.{{cite journal |last1=Kang |first1=Dong-Hee |last2=Louis |first2=Fiona |last3=Liu |first3=Hao |last4=Shimoda |first4=Hiroshi |last5=Nishiyama |first5=Yasutaka |last6=Nozawa |first6=Hajime |last7=Kakitani |first7=Makoto |last8=Takagi |first8=Daisuke |last9=Kasa |first9=Daijiro |last10=Nagamori |first10=Eiji |last11=Irie |first11=Shinji |last12=Kitano |first12=Shiro |last13=Matsusaki |first13=Michiya |title=Engineered whole cut meat-like tissue by the assembly of cell fibers using tendon-gel integrated bioprinting |journal=Nature Communications |date=24 August 2021 |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=5059 |doi=10.1038/s41467-021-25236-9 |pmid=34429413 |language=en |issn=2041-1723|pmc=8385070 |bibcode=2021NatCo..12.5059K }}{{cite news |title=Japanese scientists produce first 3D-bioprinted, marbled Wagyu beef |url=https://newatlas.com/science/world-first-lab-grown-wagyu-beef-japan/ |access-date=21 September 2021 |work=New Atlas |date=25 August 2021 |archive-date=21 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921152856/https://newatlas.com/science/world-first-lab-grown-wagyu-beef-japan/ |url-status=live }}

File:Captura de pantalla 2024-07-23 a las 12.49.37.png

File:Bioreactor principle.svg

Scaffolds are placed inside bioreactors so that cell growth and specialization can occur. Bioreactors are large machines similar to brewery tanks which expose the cells to a large variety of environmental factors that are necessary to promote either proliferation or differentiation. The temperature of the bioreactor must replicate in vivo conditions. In the case of mammalian cells, this requires heating to 37 °C (99 °F). Alternatively, insect cells can be grown at room temperature. Most bioreactors are maintained at 5% carbon dioxide.{{Cite journal|last1=Rubio|first1=Natalie R.|last2=Fish|first2=Kyle D.|last3=Trimmer|first3=Barry A.|author4-link=David L. Kaplan (engineer)|last4=Kaplan|first4=David L.|date=2019|title=Possibilities for Engineered Insect Tissue as a Food Source|journal=Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems|language=en|volume=3|doi=10.3389/fsufs.2019.00024|issn=2571-581X|doi-access=free|s2cid=116877741}} Cells can be cultivated in either continuous or fed-batch systems. The former entails inoculating and harvesting cells in a constant process so that there are always cells in the bioreactor. Fed-batch systems mean inoculating the cells, culturing them and harvesting them in a single period.

Stirred tank bioreactors are the most widely used configuration. An impeller increases the flow, thereby homogenizing the culture media and a diffuser facilitates the exchange of oxygen into the media. This system is generally used for suspended cultures but can be used for cells that require attachment to another surface if microcarriers are included. Fixed bed bioreactors are commonly used for adherent cultures. They feature strips of fibres that are packed together to form a bed to which cells can attach. Aerated culture media is circulated through the bed. In airlift bioreactors, the culture media is aerated into a gaseous form using air bubbles which are then scattered and dispersed amongst the cells. Perfusion bioreactors are common configurations for continuous cultivation. They continuously drain media saturated with lactic acid that is void of nutrients and fill it with replenished media.{{Cite web|title=What Are the Different Types of Bioreactors? - Biotech Blog|url=https://www.pall.com/en/biotech/blog/types-of-bioreactor.html#:~:text=March%2011,%202020,be%20sterilized%20in%20an%20autoclave.|access-date=2020-10-19|website=www.pall.com|archive-date=22 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022220814/https://www.pall.com/en/biotech/blog/types-of-bioreactor.html#:~:text=March%2011,%202020,be%20sterilized%20in%20an%20autoclave.|url-status=live}}

The culture media is an essential component of in vitro cultivation. It is responsible for providing the macromolecules, nutrients and growth factors necessary for cell proliferation. Sourcing growth factors is one of the most challenging tasks of cellular agriculture. Traditionally, it involves the use of fetal bovine serum (FBS) which is a blood product extracted from fetal cows. Besides the argument that its production is unethical, it also violates the notion that the cultured meat is produced independent of the use of animals. It is also the most costly constituent of cultured meat, priced at around $1000 per litre. Furthermore, chemical composition varies greatly depending on the animal, so it cannot be uniformly quantified chemically.{{Cite journal|last1=Dessels|first1=Carla|last2=Potgieter|first2=Marnie|last3=Pepper|first3=Michael S.|date=2016|title=Making the Switch: Alternatives to Fetal Bovine Serum for Adipose-Derived Stromal Cell Expansion|journal=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology|language=en|volume=4|page=115|doi=10.3389/fcell.2016.00115|pmid=27800478|pmc=5065960|issn=2296-634X|doi-access=free}} FBS is employed because it conveniently mimics the process of muscle development in vivo. The growth factors needed for tissue development are predominantly provided through an animal's bloodstream, and no other known fluid can single-handedly deliver all these components.

The current alternative is to generate each growth factor individually using recombinant protein production. In this process, the genes coding for the specific factor are integrated into bacteria which are then fermented. Due to the added complexity of this process, it is particularly expensive. Future Fields, a Canadian company focused on overcoming the economic and environmental costs of traditional growth media, is developing serum-free growth factors from fruit flies.{{Cite web|title=Future Fields Cellular Agriculture & Biomanufacturing|url=https://www.futurefields.io/|access-date=2020-10-28|website=www.futurefields.io|language=en|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030025600/https://www.futurefields.io/|url-status=live}}

The ideal medium would be chemically quantifiable and accessible to ensure simplicity in production, cheap and not dependent on animals. It will most likely be derived from plants; and while this may reduce the possibility of transmitting infectious agents, it may induce allergic reactions in some consumers.I. Datar, M. Betti, [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222521883_Possibilities_for_an_in_vitro_meat_production_system Possibilities for an in vitro meat production system] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007121229/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222521883_Possibilities_for_an_in_vitro_meat_production_system |date=7 October 2016 }}, Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies 11 (2010) at 17. Such culture sera may also require modifications specific to the cell line to which they are applied. Companies currently invested in developing effective plant based culture include Multus Media and Biftek.{{Cite web|title=Multus {{!}} feeding food|url=https://www.multus.media/|access-date=2020-10-28|website=multus.media|language=en|archive-date=28 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028015918/https://www.multus.media/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=biftek.co|url=https://biftek.co/|access-date=2020-10-28|website=biftek.co|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030184543/https://biftek.co/|url-status=live}}

The Good Food Institute (GFI) put out a report in 2019 in support of the concept that cell-based meat could be produced at the same cost as ground beef and in 2021 they commissioned a report from CE Delft on the Techno-Economic Analysis of cultivated meat.{{Cite web|title=TEA of cultivated meat. Future projections for different scenarios|url=https://cedelft.eu/publications/tea-of-cultivated-meat/|access-date=2022-01-07|website=CE Delft - EN|language=en-GB|archive-date=26 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126163754/https://cedelft.eu/publications/tea-of-cultivated-meat/|url-status=live}} Another proposed approach is to subject the cell lines to a magnetic field, which can stimulate the release of molecules that have regenerative, metabolic, anti-inflammatory and immunity-boosting properties, acting as an alternative to serum.{{Cite web |last=Andrei |first=Mihai |date=2022-10-04 |title=New technique from Singapore makes lab-grown meat cheaper, greener, and more ethical |url=https://www.zmescience.com/medicine/nutrition-medicine/singapore-lab-meat-03102022/ |access-date=2022-10-12 |website=ZME Science |language=en-US |archive-date=12 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012231644/https://www.zmescience.com/medicine/nutrition-medicine/singapore-lab-meat-03102022/ |url-status=live }}

A common challenge to bioreactors and scaffolds is developing system configurations that enable all cells to gain exposure to culture media while simultaneously optimizing spatial requirements. In the cell proliferation phase, prior to the introduction of the scaffold, many cell types need to be attached to a surface to support growth. As such, cells must be grown in confluent monolayers only one cell thick which necessitates a lot of surface area. This poses practical challenges on large scales. As such, systems may incorporate microcarriers—small spherical beads of glass or other compatible material that are suspended in the culture medium. Cells adhere to these microcarriers as they would to the sides of the bioreactor, which increases the amount of surface area.{{Cite web|title=How it's made: the science behind cultivated meat|url=http://elliotswartz.com/cellbasedmeat/cleanmeat301|access-date=2020-10-19|website=A Bit of Science|language=en-US|archive-date=19 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019141119/http://elliotswartz.com/cellbasedmeat/cleanmeat301|url-status=live}}

In the cell differentiation phase, the cells may be seeded to a scaffold and so do not require the use of microcarriers. However, in these instances, the density of the cells on the scaffold means that not all cells have an interface with culture media, leading to cell death and necrotic centers within the meat. When muscle is cultivated in vivo, this issue is circumvented as the extracellular matrix delivers nutrients into the muscle through blood vessels. As such, many emerging scaffolds aim to replicate such networks.

Similarly, scaffolds must simulate many of the other characteristics of the extracellular matrix, most notably porosity, crystallinity, degradation, biocompatibility and functionality. Few materials that emulate all these characteristics have been identified, leading to the possibility of blending different materials with complementary properties.

Cellular agriculture research does not have a significant basis of academic interest or funding streams. Consequently, the majority of research has been undertaken and funded by independent institutions. This is incrementally changing as not for profits drive support and interest. Notably, New Harvest has a fellowship program to support graduate students and groups at various academic institutions.{{Cite web|title=New Harvest|url=https://www.new-harvest.org/|access-date=2020-10-19|website=New Harvest|language=en|archive-date=20 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020050601/https://www.new-harvest.org/|url-status=live}} Additionally, a growing number of governments are funding research in cellular agriculture. In August 2020, the Grant Management Services of the European Commission awarded a €2.5 million grant to ORF Genetics.{{Cite web|title=Icelandic Biotech Firm Receives Large European Grant|url=https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/news/2020/08/01/icelandic_biotech_firm_receives_large_european_gran/|access-date=2022-01-07|website=Iceland Monitor|archive-date=30 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130070018/https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/news/2020/08/01/icelandic_biotech_firm_receives_large_european_gran/|url-status=live}} That same month, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry granted IntegriCulture $2.2 million through their New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization.{{Cite web|date=2020-08-28|title=IntegriCulture Awarded $2.2 Million Grant to Build New Commercial Cell Ag Facility|url=https://thespoon.tech/integriculture-awarded-2-2-million-grant-to-build-new-commercial-cell-ag-facility/|access-date=2022-01-07|website=The Spoon|language=en-US|archive-date=30 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130055546/https://thespoon.tech/integriculture-awarded-2-2-million-grant-to-build-new-commercial-cell-ag-facility/|url-status=live}}

The European Union's Horizon 2020 R&D funding framework awarded a €2.7 million grant to a consortium led by BioTech Foods.{{Cite web|date=2020-10-14|title=EU's Horizon 2020 invests in cellular agriculture|url=https://www.foodfrontier.org/eus-horizon-2020-invests-in-cellular-agriculture/|access-date=2022-01-07|website=Food Frontier|language=en|archive-date=30 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130055550/https://www.foodfrontier.org/eus-horizon-2020-invests-in-cellular-agriculture/|url-status=live}} In 2021, the Spanish government granted €3.7 million for Biotech Foods to investigate the potential health benefits of cellular agriculture.{{Cite web|date=2021-01-22|title=BioTech Food tests on synthetic meat for € 5.2 million – Spanish government allocates 3.7 million for the project|url=https://www.efanews.eu/item/16394-biotech-food-tests-on-synthetic-meat-for-5-2-million.html|access-date=2022-01-07|website=EFA News – European Food Agency|archive-date=20 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120141400/https://www.efanews.eu/item/16394-biotech-food-tests-on-synthetic-meat-for-5-2-million.html|url-status=live}} The National Science Foundation awarded a $3.55 million grant to a team of researchers at UC Davis for open-access cultured meat research.{{Cite web|title=UC Davis receives $3.55m grant to investigate long-term viability of cell-cultured meat|url=https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2020/09/28/UC-Davis-receives-3.55m-grant-to-investigate-long-term-viability-of-cell-cultured-meat|access-date=2022-01-07|website=foodnavigator-usa.com|date=28 September 2020|language=en-GB|archive-date=2 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702213139/https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2020/09/28/UC-Davis-receives-3.55m-grant-to-investigate-long-term-viability-of-cell-cultured-meat|url-status=live}} Non-profits also drive support and interest in the field. Notably, New Harvest has a fellowship program to support the research of specific graduate students and groups at various academic institutions and the Good Food Institute funds open-access research through its Research Grant Program.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

Consumer acceptance of the product is critical.{{Cite journal|last1=Sharma|first1=Shruti|last2=Thind|first2=Sukhcharanjit Singh|last3=Kaur|first3=Amarjeet|date=December 2015|title=In vitro meat production system: why and how?|journal=Journal of Food Science and Technology|language=en|volume=52|issue=12|pages=7599–7607|doi=10.1007/s13197-015-1972-3|issn=0022-1155|pmc=4648904|pmid=26604337}}{{cite journal |last1=Xiang |first1=Ning |last2=Zhang |first2=Ximing |title=The challenges of bringing cultured meat to the market |journal=Nature Reviews Bioengineering |date=2023 |volume=1 |issue=11 |pages=791–792 |doi=10.1038/s44222-023-00075-z}} A study looking at acceptance of cultured meat in China, India, and the US "found high levels of acceptance of clean meat in the three most populous countries worldwide."{{Cite journal|last1=Bryant|first1=Christopher|last2=Szejda|first2=Keri|last3=Parekh|first3=Nishant|last4=Desphande|first4=Varun|last5=Tse|first5=Brian|date=27 February 2019|title=A Survey of Consumer Perceptions of Plant-Based and Clean Meat in the USA, India, and China|journal=Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems|volume=3|page=11|doi=10.3389/fsufs.2019.00011|issn=2571-581X|doi-access=free}} Several potential factors of consumer acceptance of cultured meat have been identified. Healthiness, safety, nutritional characteristics, sustainability, taste, and lower price, are all contributing factors.{{Cite journal|last1=Gómez-Luciano|first1=Cristino Alberto|last2=de Aguiar|first2=Luis Kluwe|last3=Vriesekoop|first3=Frank|last4=Urbano|first4=Beatriz|date=December 2019|title=Consumers' willingness to purchase three alternatives to meat proteins in the United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil and the Dominican Republic|journal=Food Quality and Preference|language=en|volume=78|page=103732|doi=10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.103732|s2cid=198753926|url=https://hau.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/17416/1/Frank%20Vriesekoop%20consumers%20willingness%20upload.pdf|access-date=23 October 2020|archive-date=26 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026074420/https://hau.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/17416/1/Frank%20Vriesekoop%20consumers%20willingness%20upload.pdf|url-status=live}} One study found that the use of highly technical language to explain cultured meat led to significantly more negative public attitude towards the concept.{{Cite journal|last1=Bryant|first1=Christopher|last2=Dillard|first2=Courtney|date=3 July 2019|title=The Impact of Framing on Acceptance of Cultured Meat|journal=Frontiers in Nutrition|volume=6|page=103|doi=10.3389/fnut.2019.00103|issn=2296-861X|pmc=6616100|pmid=31334244|doi-access=free}} One study suggested that describing cultured meat in a way that emphasizes the final product rather than the production method was an effective way to improve acceptance.{{Cite journal|last1=Siegrist|first1=Michael|last2=Sütterlin|first2=Bernadette|last3=Hartmann|first3=Christina|date=May 2018|title=Perceived naturalness and evoked disgust influence acceptance of cultured meat|journal=Meat Science|language=en|volume=139|pages=213–219|doi=10.1016/j.meatsci.2018.02.007|pmid=29459297}}

The use of standardized descriptions would improve future research about consumer acceptance of cultured meat. Current studies have often reported drastically different rates of acceptance, despite similar survey populations.{{Cite journal|last1=Bryant|first1=Christopher|last2=Barnett|first2=Julie|date=September 2018|title=Consumer acceptance of cultured meat: A systematic review|journal=Meat Science|language=en|volume=143|pages=8–17|doi=10.1016/j.meatsci.2018.04.008|pmid=29684844|s2cid=19086898|url=https://purehost.bath.ac.uk/ws/files/174327253/Consumer_Acceptance_of_Cultured_Meat_A_Systematic_Review_V3.pdf|access-date=17 December 2022|archive-date=9 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309063001/https://purehost.bath.ac.uk/ws/files/174327253/Consumer_Acceptance_of_Cultured_Meat_A_Systematic_Review_V3.pdf|url-status=live}} Lou Cooperhouse, CEO of BlueNalu, shared on the Red to Green Podcast that "cell-based" and "cell-cultured" were suitable terms to differentiate it from conventional meat whilst being clear about the process by which it was made.{{Citation|title=3.7. Dairy and fish vs. cultured meat: the difference in perception, production and promotion with Raffael Wolgensinger CEO of FORMO and Lou Cooperhouse CEO of BlueNalu|date=26 May 2021|url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/4lAafAoA6Uf2Nfo4DQNO3Q|language=en|access-date=2021-08-04|archive-date=4 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804010745/https://open.spotify.com/episode/4lAafAoA6Uf2Nfo4DQNO3Q|url-status=live}} There also exists a challenge in how to use these descriptions in labelling. For example, in the United States there is no overarching federal legislation that regulates how cultured meat should be labeled for the consumer. While traditional meat producers are attempting to prevent cultured meat companies from using the term "meat," cultured meat producers argue that the word is necessary for consumer acceptance.{{Cite web |last1=Spring |first1=Alexandra |last2=Bence |first2=Cydnee |date=October 18, 2022 |title=WHAT'S THE BEEF? DEBATES OVER CELL-CULTURED MEAT |url=https://labelsunwrapped.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Labels-Unwrapped-Cultured-Meat.pdf |access-date=October 25, 2022 |website=Labels Unwrapped |archive-date=25 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025160514/https://labelsunwrapped.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Labels-Unwrapped-Cultured-Meat.pdf |url-status=live }}

Global market acceptance has not been assessed. Studies are attempting to determine the current levels of consumer acceptance and identify methods to improve this value.{{cite journal |last1=Mancini |first1=Maria Cecilia |last2=Antonioli |first2=Federico |title=To What Extent Are Consumers' Perception and Acceptance of Alternative Meat Production Systems Affected by Information? The Case of Cultured Meat |journal=Animals |date=2020 |volume=10 |issue=4 |page=656 |doi=10.3390/ani10040656 |pmid=32290141 |doi-access=free|pmc=7223365 }} Clear answers are not available, although one recent study reported that consumers were willing to pay a premium for cultured meat.{{Cite journal|last1=Bryant|first1=Christopher J.|last2=Anderson|first2=Joanna E.|last3=Asher|first3=Kathryn E.|last4=Green|first4=Che|last5=Gasteratos|first5=Kristopher|date=August 2019|title=Strategies for overcoming aversion to unnaturalness: The case of clean meat|journal=Meat Science|language=en|volume=154|pages=37–45|doi=10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.04.004|pmid=30986669|s2cid=117717742|url=https://purehost.bath.ac.uk/ws/files/195296674/Overcoming_aversion_to_unnaturalness_PREPRINT_.pdf|access-date=17 December 2022|archive-date=10 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310141338/https://purehost.bath.ac.uk/ws/files/195296674/Overcoming_aversion_to_unnaturalness_PREPRINT_.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last1=Bryant|first1=Christopher J.|last2=Barnett|first2=Julie C.|date=June 2019|title=What's in a name? Consumer perceptions of in vitro meat under different names|journal=Appetite|language=en|volume=137|pages=104–113|doi=10.1016/j.appet.2019.02.021|pmid=30840874|s2cid=73479055|url=https://purehost.bath.ac.uk/ws/files/190156720/What_s_In_a_Name_Edited2.pdf|access-date=17 December 2022|archive-date=12 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212212553/https://purehost.bath.ac.uk/ws/files/190156720/What_s_In_a_Name_Edited2.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last1=Grasso|first1=Alessandra C.|last2=Hung|first2=Yung|last3=Olthof|first3=Margreet R.|last4=Verbeke|first4=Wim|last5=Brouwer|first5=Ingeborg A.|date=15 August 2019|title=Older Consumers' Readiness to Accept Alternative, More Sustainable Protein Sources in the European Union|journal=Nutrients|language=en|volume=11|issue=8|page=1904|doi=10.3390/nu11081904|issn=2072-6643|pmc=6723411|pmid=31443177|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Valente|first1=Júlia de Paula Soares|last2=Fiedler|first2=Rodrigo Alonso|last3=Sucha Heidemann|first3=Marina|last4=Molento|first4=Carla Forte Maiolino|date=30 August 2019|editor-last=Gao|editor-first=Zhifeng|title=First glimpse on attitudes of highly educated consumers towards cell-based meat and related issues in Brazil|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=14|issue=8|pages=e0221129|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0221129|issn=1932-6203|pmc=6716657|pmid=31469862|bibcode=2019PLoSO..1421129V|doi-access=free}} Low percentages of older adult populations have been reported to show acceptance for cultured meat. Green eating behavior, educational status, and food business, were cited as most important factors for this population. There is also a lack of studies relating the methods of producing cultured meat with its taste for the consuming public.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Regulatory matters must also be sorted out. Prior to being available for sale, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Canada require approved novel food applications. Additionally, the European Union requires that cultured animal products and production must prove safety, by an approved company application, as of 1 January 2018.{{Cite journal|last=Stephens|first=N|date=July 21, 2018|title=Bringing cultured meat to market: Technical, socio-political, and regulatory challenges in cellular agriculture.|journal=Trends in Food Science & Technology|volume=78|pages=155–166|doi=10.1016/j.tifs.2018.04.010|pmid=30100674|pmc=6078906}}

In 2020, Singapore became the first country in the world to approve cultured meat for sale. The Singapore Food Agency has published guidance on its requirements for the safety assessment of novel foods, including specific requirements on the information to be submitted for approval of cultivated meat products.{{Cite web|title=SFA|url=https://www.sfa.gov.sg/docs/default-source/food-import-and-export/Requirements-on-safety-assessment-of-novel-foods_23-Nov-2020.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204111427/https://www.sfa.gov.sg/docs/default-source/food-import-and-export/Requirements-on-safety-assessment-of-novel-foods_23-Nov-2020.pdf |archive-date=4 December 2020 }}

In March 2023, Italy's Meloni government approved a draft bill banning the production and commercialization of cultivated meat for human and animal consumption;{{cite web |last=Dell'Anna |first=Alessio |date=2023-04-04 |title=Italy's waging a crusade against lab-grown meat. Does it have a point? |url=https://www.euronews.com/2023/04/04/frankenstein-food-why-italys-crusade-against-cultured-meat-probably-wont-work |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=Euronews |archive-date=31 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031152643/https://www.euronews.com/2023/04/04/frankenstein-food-why-italys-crusade-against-cultured-meat-probably-wont-work |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last=Sabelli |first=Chiara |date=2023-04-05 |title=Scientists protest Italy's ban on cultivated meat |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d43978-023-00050-7 |journal=Nature |doi=10.1038/d43978-023-00050-7 |s2cid=257991805 |access-date=2023-10-25 |archive-date=25 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025163413/https://www.nature.com/articles/d43978-023-00050-7 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}{{cite news |last=Evans-Pritchard |first=Ambrose |date=2023-08-10 |title=Giorgia Meloni risks going the way of Liz Truss if she keeps defying the market |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/08/10/italy-giorgia-meloni-liz-truss-defying-market/ |url-status=live |access-date=2023-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919223221/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/08/10/italy-giorgia-meloni-liz-truss-defying-market/ |archive-date=2023-09-19 |issn=0307-1235}} this move, which the government said was intended to protect food heritage,{{Cite news |date=2023-03-29 |title=Italy moves to ban lab-grown meat to protect food heritage |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65110744 |access-date=2023-11-16 |archive-date=13 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513045048/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65110744 |url-status=live }} was criticized, including by scientists, for being at odds with global trends of openness and legalization,{{Cite web |last=Malagoli |first=Silvia |date=2023-04-14 |title=Italy is set to ban lab-grown meat – here's why it should think again |url=http://theconversation.com/italy-is-set-to-ban-lab-grown-meat-heres-why-it-should-think-again-203251 |access-date=2023-11-16 |website=The Conversation |archive-date=16 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116160948/http://theconversation.com/italy-is-set-to-ban-lab-grown-meat-heres-why-it-should-think-again-203251 |url-status=live }} as misguided,{{Cite news |last=Giuffrida |first=Angela |date=2023-03-29 |title=Italian plan to ban lab-grown food criticised as misguided |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/29/italian-plan-to-ban-lab-grown-food-criticised-as-misguided |access-date=2023-11-16 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=13 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513045031/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/29/italian-plan-to-ban-lab-grown-food-criticised-as-misguided |url-status=live }} and for possibly worsening climate change in Italy.{{Cite magazine |last=Baker |first=Aryn |date=2023-04-12 |title=Italy Wants to be the First Country to Ban Lab-Grown Meat. That Would be a Big Climate Problem |url=https://time.com/6270941/italy-lab-grown-meat-ban-climate-impact/ |access-date=2023-11-16 |magazine=Time |archive-date=16 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116160534/https://time.com/6270941/italy-lab-grown-meat-ban-climate-impact/ |url-status=live }}

By October 2023, it was reported the Italian government had retired the draft bill,{{cite web |date=2023-10-16 |title=Carne coltivata: Italia fa retromarcia e non si oppone più. Figuraccia |url=https://ilfattoalimentare.it/carne-coltivata-italia-retromarcia-non-si-oppone.html |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=Il Fatto Alimentare |language=it |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030180503/https://ilfattoalimentare.it/carne-coltivata-italia-retromarcia-non-si-oppone.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |date=2023-10-17 |title=Il governo ha ritirato il divieto sulla carne coltivata in laboratorio |url=https://www.wired.it/article/carne-coltivata-laboratorio-ritiro-divieto-governo-lollobrigida/ |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=Wired Italia |language=it |archive-date=23 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023003933/https://www.wired.it/article/carne-coltivata-laboratorio-ritiro-divieto-governo-lollobrigida/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |date=2023-10-18 |title=Dopo tanto rumore il governo ritira in silenzio il 'ban' sulla carne coltivata |url=https://www.typomedia.co/tecnologia/governo-ritira-silenzio-ban-carne-coltivata |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=Typo Media |language=it |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030181425/https://www.typomedia.co/tecnologia/governo-ritira-silenzio-ban-carne-coltivata |url-status=live }} and withdrew the Technical Regulation Information System notification, a procedure aimed at preventing the creation of barriers within the European Union's internal market, for the bill.{{Cite web |last=Mathieu |first=Henry |date=2023-10-20 |title=Italy withdraws from EU process studying plan to ban cultivated-meat sales |url=https://www.just-food.com/news/italy-withdraws-from-eu-process-to-ban-cultivated-meat-sales/ |access-date=2023-11-16 |website=Just Food |archive-date=16 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116160948/https://www.just-food.com/news/italy-withdraws-from-eu-process-to-ban-cultivated-meat-sales/ |url-status=live }} Francesco Lollobrigida, Italy's minister of agriculture, said that the withdrawal of the proposed anti-cultured meat bill Italy submitted to the European Union "is not a step back", which many speculated was because the government wanted to avoid a likely rejection by the European Commission. He added that the bill was not going to be retired and would move forward.{{Cite web |date=2023-10-18 |title=Divieto carne sintetica in Italia, Lollobrigida smentisce ritiro ddl |url=https://tg24.sky.it/cronaca/2023/10/18/lollobrigida-carne-sintetica-italia |access-date=2023-11-16 |website=Sky TG24 |language=it |archive-date=16 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116160526/https://tg24.sky.it/cronaca/2023/10/18/lollobrigida-carne-sintetica-italia |url-status=live }} Italy became the first country to ban cultured meat in November 2023, when the government approved the bill.{{Cite web |date=2023-11-16 |title=Carne coltivata: il divieto è legge. Rissa sfiorata tra i deputati di +Europa e il presidente di Coldiretti |url=https://www.milanofinanza.it/news/il-ddl-sulla-carne-coltivata-e-legge-in-italia-sara-vietata-la-produzione-e-l-immissione-sul-mercato-202311161557461807 |access-date=2023-11-16 |website=MF Milano Finanza |language=it |archive-date=16 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116160948/https://www.milanofinanza.it/news/il-ddl-sulla-carne-coltivata-e-legge-in-italia-sara-vietata-la-produzione-e-l-immissione-sul-mercato-202311161557461807 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=2023-11-17 |title=Italy bans lab-grown meat in nod to farmers |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67448116 |access-date=2023-11-18 |archive-date=18 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118181611/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67448116 |url-status=live }}

In September 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have agreed to jointly regulate cultured meat. Under the agreement, the FDA oversees cell collection, cell banks, and cell growth and differentiation, while the USDA oversees the production and labeling of food products derived from the cells that are meant for human consumption.{{Cite web|publisher=FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition|date=2020-09-09|title=USDA/FDA Launches Joint Webinar on Roles and Responsibilities for Cultured Animal Cell Human and Animal Food Products|url=https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/usdafda-launches-joint-webinar-roles-and-responsibilities-cultured-animal-cell-human-and-animal-food|website=United States Food and Drug Administration|language=en|access-date=19 October 2020|archive-date=28 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028122148/https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/usdafda-launches-joint-webinar-roles-and-responsibilities-cultured-animal-cell-human-and-animal-food|url-status=dead}}

Several U.S. states, such as Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington, have passed legislation limiting the use of the term meat on cultured meat packaging.{{Cite web |title=Texas governor signs new labeling law for plant-based and cultivated meat |url=https://www.fooddive.com/news/texas-plant-based-cultivated-meat-labeling-law/651455/ |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=Food Dive |language=en-US |archive-date=9 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240109025835/https://www.fooddive.com/news/texas-plant-based-cultivated-meat-labeling-law/651455/ |url-status=live }}

Full bans on cultured meat have been enacted in Florida and Alabama: in Florida the law makes it a criminal offense to manufacture and sell,{{Cite web |last=Conrad |first=Jennifer |date=May 3, 2024 |title=Florida Just Became the First State to Ban Lab-Grown Meat |url=https://www.inc.com/jennifer-conrad/florida-just-became-first-state-to-ban-lab-grown-meat.html |url-status=live |access-date=May 4, 2024 |website=Inc. |archive-date=12 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240512083523/https://www.inc.com/jennifer-conrad/florida-just-became-first-state-to-ban-lab-grown-meat.html }} and in Alabama cultured meat has been illegal to manufacture, sell, or distribute since October 2024.{{cite news |last1=Robledo |first1=Anthony |title=Alabama bans lab-grown meat, joining Florida among US states outlawing alternative proteins |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/05/13/lab-grown-meat-ban-alabama/73678952007/ |access-date=17 May 2024 |work=USA TODAY}} The governments of Arizona, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia are considering similar laws.{{Cite web |last=Kainz |first=Natalie |date=May 2, 2024 |title=Florida bans lab-grown meat, adding to similar efforts in three other states |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/florida-bans-lab-grown-meat-adding-similar-efforts-four-states-rcna150386 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240504133458/https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/florida-bans-lab-grown-meat-adding-similar-efforts-four-states-rcna150386 |archive-date=May 4, 2024 |access-date=May 4, 2024 |website=NBC News}}

In August 2024, Upside Foods sued Florida in an attempt to strike down their law.{{Cite web |last=Fortinsky |first=Sarah |date=August 13, 2024 |title=Florida sued over ban on lab-grown meat |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4826376-florida-lab-grown-meat-cultivated-desantis/ |website=The Hill}}

Large-scale production of cultured meat may or may not require artificial growth hormones to be added to the culture for meat production.{{cite journal | last1 = Edelman | first1 = P. D | last2 = McFarland | first2 = D. C. | last3 = Mironov | first3 = V. A. | last4 = Matheny | first4 = J. G. | year = 2005 | title = In vitro-cultured meat production | journal = Tissue Engineering | volume = 11 | issue = 5–6| pages = 659–662 | doi = 10.1089/ten.2005.11.659 | pmid = 15998207 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.179.588 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/is-lab-grown-meat-good-for-us/278778/|title=Is Lab-Grown Meat Good for Us?|author=Marta Zaraska|work=The Atlantic|access-date=2 February 2016|date=19 August 2013|archive-date=21 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321184932/https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/is-lab-grown-meat-good-for-us/278778/|url-status=live}} As cultured meat is grown in a sterile environment, there is no need for antibiotics.{{Cite web|date=2021-01-14|title=Could lab-grown meat prevent the next pandemic?|url=https://www.zmescience.com/other/pieces/lab-grown-meat-08012021/|access-date=2022-01-12|website=ZME Science|language=en-US|archive-date=30 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130075039/https://www.zmescience.com/other/pieces/lab-grown-meat-08012021/|url-status=live}} Today, the widespread use of antibiotics in conventional agriculture is the main driver of antibiotic resistance in humans.{{Cite journal|last1=Martin|first1=Michael J.|last2=Thottathil|first2=Sapna E|last3=Newman|first3=Thomas B.|date=December 2015|title=Antibiotics Overuse in Animal Agriculture: A Call to Action for Health Care Providers|journal=American Journal of Public Health|language=en|volume=105|issue=12|pages=2409–2410|doi=10.2105/AJPH.2015.302870|issn=0090-0036|pmc=4638249|pmid=26469675}} According to the World Health Organization, antimicrobial resistance represents "an increasingly serious threat to global public health that requires action across all government sectors and society"{{Cite web|title=Antibiotic resistance|url=https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antibiotic-resistance|access-date=2022-01-12|website=www.who.int|language=en|archive-date=21 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521035847/https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antibiotic-resistance|url-status=live}} – predicting up to 10 million deaths annually by 2050.{{Cite web|date=2019-04-29|title=UN, global health agencies sound alarm on drug-resistant infections; new recommendations to reduce 'staggering number' of future deaths|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/04/1037471|access-date=2022-01-12|website=UN News|language=en|archive-date=26 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226165606/https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/04/1037471|url-status=live}} Cultured meat could provide an effective solution to help mitigate this major risk to human health.{{cite journal |last1=Anomaly |first1=Jonny |last2=Browning |first2=Heather |last3=Fleischman |first3=Diana |last4=Veit |first4=Walter |title=Flesh Without Blood: The Public Health Benefits of Lab-Grown Meat |journal=Journal of Bioethical Inquiry |date=2024 |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=167–175 |doi=10.1007/s11673-023-10254-7 |doi-access=free|pmid=37656382 |pmc=11052809 }}

Researchers have suggested that omega-3 fatty acids could be added to cultured meat as a health bonus. In a similar way, the omega-3 fatty acid content of conventional meat can be increased by altering what the animals are fed.{{cite journal | last1 = Azcona | first1 = J.O. | last2 = Schang | first2 = M.J. | last3 = Garcia | first3 = P.T. | last4 = Gallinger | first4 = C. | last5 = Ayerza | first5 = R. | year = 2008 | title = Omega-3 enriched broiler meat: The influence of dietary alpha-linolenic omega-3 fatty acid sources on growth, performance and meat fatty acid composition | journal = Canadian Journal of Animal Science | volume = 88 | issue = 2| pages = 257–269 | doi = 10.4141/cjas07081 | doi-access = free }} Research is currently underway in Spain to develop cultivated meat with healthier fats, which could reduce cholesterol and the risk of colon cancer typically associated with red meat consumption.{{Cite web|title=Spanish government invests €5.2 million in cultured meat project|url=https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2021/01/20/Spanish-government-invests-5.2-million-in-cultured-meat-project|access-date=2022-01-12|website=foodnavigator.com|date=20 January 2021|language=en-GB|archive-date=26 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026095950/https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2021/01/20/Spanish-government-invests-5.2-million-in-cultured-meat-project|url-status=live}} An issue of Time magazine suggested that the cell-cultured process may also decrease exposure of the meat to bacteria and disease.

Due to the strictly controlled and predictable environment, cultured meat production has been compared to vertical farming. Some of its proponents have predicted that it will have similar benefits in terms of reducing exposure to dangerous chemicals like pesticides and fungicides, severe injuries, and wildlife.{{cite web |last= Despommier |first= D. |title= Vertical Farm Essay I |publisher= Vertical Farm |date= 2008 |url= http://www.verticalfarm.com/essay_print.htm |access-date= 26 June 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090701091951/http://www.verticalfarm.com/essay_print.htm |archive-date= 1 July 2009 }} There is also a lack of research on the comparison on the health effects of production cultured meat with the industrial meat or the biologic organic meat ways of production.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Although cultured meat consists of animal muscle cells, fat and support cells, as well as blood vessels,{{Cite web|url = https://www.dezeen.com/2018/12/18/lab-grown-steak-beef-slaughter-free-aleph-farms-design/|title = World's first lab-grown steak is made from beef but slaughter-free|date = 18 December 2018|access-date = 28 March 2019|archive-date = 28 June 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230628192641/https://www.dezeen.com/2018/12/18/lab-grown-steak-beef-slaughter-free-aleph-farms-design/|url-status = live}} that are the same as in traditional meat, some consumers may find the high-tech production process unacceptable. Cultured meat has been described as fake or "Frankenmeat".{{Cite news |url=https://www.cnet.com/uk/news/lab-grown-meat-in-vitro-meat-sergey-brin-bill-gates-climate-change-cultured-beef/ |title=Lab-grown food: It's what's for dinner! |work=CNET |first=Dara |last=Kerr |date=February 19, 2016 |access-date=8 July 2017 |archive-date=1 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701054915/https://www.cnet.com/uk/news/lab-grown-meat-in-vitro-meat-sergey-brin-bill-gates-climate-change-cultured-beef/ |url-status=live }} On the other hand, cultured meat can be produced without the artificial hormones, antibiotics, steroids, medicine, and GMOs commonly used in factory farmed meat and seafood, though not used on organic biologic production. If a cultured meat product is different in appearance, taste, smell, texture, or other factors, it may not be commercially competitive with conventionally produced meat. The lack of bone and cardiovascular system is a disadvantage for dishes where these parts make appreciable culinary contributions. The lack of bones and/or blood may make many traditional meat preparations, such as buffalo wings, more palatable to some people. Furthermore, blood and bones could potentially be cultured in the future.{{Cite web|url=https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/lab-grown-blood-be-trialed-uk/|title=Lab-Grown Blood To Be Trialled in the U.K.|website=IFLScience|date=27 June 2015|access-date=28 March 2019|archive-date=1 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601112805/https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/lab-grown-blood-be-trialed-uk/|url-status=live}}{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lab-grown-bone-biomedical-engineering-osteoporosis-amputees|title=How do you grow bone in a lab? Good vibrations|magazine=Wired UK|first=Sian|last=Bradley|date=12 September 2017|access-date=28 March 2019|archive-date=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404193753/https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lab-grown-bone-biomedical-engineering-osteoporosis-amputees|url-status=live}}{{cite book |title= Seafood|last1= Pigott|first1= George M.|last2=Tucker|first2=Barbee W.|date= 1990|publisher= CRC Press|isbn= 978-0-8247-7922-1|page= 236}}

{{See also|Environmental vegetarianism#Criticism}}

Animal production for food is a major cause of air/water pollution and carbon emissions.{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/5648082/un-climate-report-less-meat/|title=How Eating Less Meat Could Help Protect the Planet From Climate Change|magazine=Time|language=en|access-date=5 December 2019|archive-date=5 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205021019/https://time.com/5648082/un-climate-report-less-meat/|url-status=live}} Significant questions have been raised about whether the traditional industry can meet the rapidly increasing demands for meat.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45865403|title=Would you eat slaughter-free meat?|last1=Morris|first1=Regan|date=15 October 2018|access-date=5 December 2019|last2=Cook|first2=James|language=en-GB|archive-date=30 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130031919/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45865403|url-status=live}} Cultured meat may provide an environmentally conscious alternative to traditional meat production.{{Cite web|url=https://www.labiotech.eu/features/cultured-meat-industry/|title=You Will Be Eating Lab-Grown Meat Soon: Here's What You Need to Know|first=Clara|last=Rodríguez Fernández|date=18 December 2018|website=Labiotech.eu|language=en-US|access-date=5 December 2019|archive-date=13 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513045142/https://www.labiotech.eu/in-depth/cultured-meat-industry/|url-status=live}} The environmental impacts of cultured meat are expected to be significantly lower than from animal husbandry.{{Citation |last = Tuomisto |first = Hannah |author-link = Hannah L. Tuomisto|title = Environmental Impacts of Cultured Meat Production |journal = Environmental Science & Technology |volume = 45 |issue = 14 |pages = 6117–6123 |date = 17 June 2011 |doi=10.1021/es200130u|pmid = 21682287 |bibcode = 2011EnST...45.6117T }} For every hectare that is used for vertical farming and/or cultured meat manufacturing, anywhere between 10 and 20 hectares of land may be returned to its natural state.[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/opinion/24Despommier.html A Farm on Every Floor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014192029/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/opinion/24Despommier.html |date=14 October 2019 }}, The New York Times, 23 August 2009 Vertical farms (in addition to cultured meat facilities) could exploit methane digesters to generate a portion of its electrical needs. Methane digesters could be built on site to transform the organic waste generated at the facility into biogas which is generally composed of 65% methane. This biogas could be burned to generate electricity for the greenhouse or a series of bioreactors.[http://gdi.ce.cmu.edu/gd/education/landfill-case.pdf Case Study – Landfill Power Generation] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203061623/http://gdi.ce.cmu.edu/gd/education/landfill-case.pdf |date=3 December 2008 }}, H. Scott Matthews, Green Design Initiative, Carnegie Mellon University. Retrieved 07.02.09

One study reported that cultured meat was "potentially ... much more efficient and environmentally-friendly". It generated only 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, reduced the energy needs of meat production by up to 45%, and required only 2% of the land that the global meat/livestock industry does.{{Citation |last = Specter |first = Michael |author-link = Michael Specter |magazine = The New Yorker |title = Annals of Science, Test-Tube Burgers |date = 23 May 2011 |url = https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/23/110523fa_fact_specter |access-date = 28 June 2010 |archive-date = 18 May 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110518115536/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/23/110523fa_fact_specter |url-status = live }}[http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2011-06-21-lab-grown-meat-would-cut-emissions-and-save-energy Lab-grown meat would 'cut emissions and save energy'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025053049/https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2011-06-21-lab-grown-meat-would-cut-emissions-and-save-energy |date=25 October 2020 }}, 21 June 2011 In Tuomisto's life cycle analysis claimed that producing 1,000 kg of meat conventionally requires "26–33 GJ energy, 367–521 m³ water, 190–230 m² land, and emits 1900–2240 kg CO₂-eq GHG emissions". On the other hand, producing the same quantity of meat in vitro has "7–45% lower energy use... 78–96% lower GHG emissions, 99% lower land use, and 82–96% lower water use".{{Cite journal|last=Tuomisto|first=Hanna|date=17 June 2011|title=Environmental Impacts of Cultured Meat Production|journal=Environmental Science & Technology|url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es200130u|access-date=November 12, 2020|volume=45|issue=14|pages=6117–6123|doi=10.1021/es200130u|pmid=21682287|bibcode=2011EnST...45.6117T|url-access=subscription}}

The latest study by independent research firm CE Delft shows that—compared with conventional beef—cultured meat may cause up to 92% less greenhouse gas emissions if renewable energy is used in the production process, 93% less pollution, up to 95% less land use and 78% less water.{{Cite web|title=CE_Delft_LCA_of_cultivated_meat.pdf|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ao1IYCiIj8CM5EikPXF8PLo33mAiSnDJ/view?usp=embed_facebook|access-date=2022-01-12|website=Google Docs|archive-date=30 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130041725/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ao1IYCiIj8CM5EikPXF8PLo33mAiSnDJ/view?usp=embed_facebook|url-status=live}} There are many environmental concerns about intensive poultry farming that too can be reduced by cultivating their meat instead of farming animals. These concerns include microorganism and pharmaceutical-containing manure entering the water and soil, emission of greenhouse gasses such as nitrous oxide and methane, and the volatilization of manure particles.{{Cite journal |last1=Gržinić |first1=Goran |last2=Piotrowicz-Cieślak |first2=Agnieszka |last3=Klimkowicz-Pawlas |first3=Agnieszka |last4=Górny |first4=Rafał L. |last5=Ławniczek-Wałczyk |first5=Anna |last6=Piechowicz |first6=Lidia |last7=Olkowska |first7=Ewa |last8=Potrykus |first8=Marta |last9=Tankiewicz |first9=Maciej |last10=Krupka |first10=Magdalena |last11=Siebielec |first11=Grzegorz |last12=Wolska |first12=Lidia |date=2023-02-01 |title=Intensive poultry farming: A review of the impact on the environment and human health |journal=Science of the Total Environment |language=en |volume=858 |issue=Pt 3 |page=160014 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160014 |pmid=36368402 |issn=0048-9697|doi-access=free |bibcode=2023ScTEn.85860014G }}

Skeptic Margaret Mellon of the Union of Concerned Scientists speculates that the energy and fossil fuel requirements of large-scale cultured meat production may be more environmentally destructive than producing food off the land. S. L. Davis speculated that both vertical farming in urban areas and the activity of cultured meat facilities may cause relatively little harm to the wildlife that live around the facilities.{{cite conference | author=S.L. Davis | date=2001 | title=The least harm principle suggests that humans should eat beef, lamb, dairy, not a vegan diet | book-title=Proceedings of the Third Congress of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics | pages=449–450}} Dickson Despommier speculated that natural resources may be spared from depletion due to vertical farming and cultured meat.{{Cite journal| last = Despommier| first = Dickson| author-link = Dickson Despommier| title = The Rise of Vertical Farms| journal = Scientific American| volume = 301| issue = 5| pages = 60–67| date = November 2009| issn = 0036-8733| bibcode = 2009SciAm.301e..80D| doi = 10.1038/scientificamerican1109-80| pmid = 19873908}} One study reported that conventional farming kills ten wild animals per hectare each year.

Techniques of genetic engineering, such as insertion, deletion, silencing, activation, or mutation of a gene, are not required to produce cultured meat. Cultured meat production allows the biological processes that normally occur within an animal to occur without the animal. Since cultured meat is grown in a controlled, artificial environment, some have commented that cultured meat more closely resembles hydroponic vegetables, rather than genetically modified vegetables.{{cite news|last=Sandhana|first=Lakshmi|title=Test Tube Meat Nears Dinner Table|url=https://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/06/71201|access-date=27 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819005637/http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/06/71201|archive-date=19 August 2013}}

More research is underway on cultured meat, and although cultured meat does not require genetic engineering, researchers may employ such techniques to improve quality and sustainability. Fortifying cultured meat with nutrients such as beneficial fatty acids is one improvement that can be facilitated through genetic modification. The same improvement can be made without genetic modification, by manipulating the conditions of the culture medium.{{cite web|last=Vein|first=John|title=Patent US6835390|url=https://www.google.ca/patents/US6835390?dq=ininventor:%22Jon+Vein%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-lnMUtX4DOTI2AWt_IGYCA&ved=0CEwQ6AEwAzge|access-date=27 January 2014|archive-date=4 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204022659/https://www.google.ca/patents/US6835390?dq=ininventor%3A%22Jon%20Vein%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-lnMUtX4DOTI2AWt_IGYCA&ved=0CEwQ6AEwAzge|url-status=live}} Genetic modification may be able to enhance muscle cell proliferation. The introduction of myogenic regulatory factors, growth factors, or other gene products into muscle cells may increase production over that of conventional meat.

To avoid the use of any animal products, the use of photosynthetic algae and cyanobacteria has been proposed to produce the main ingredients for the culture media, as opposed to fetal bovine or horse serum.{{cite journal|last=Haagsman|first=H.P.|author2=K.J. HelIingwerf|author3=B.A.J. Roelen|title=Production of Animal Proteins by Cell Systems|journal=Universiteit Utrecht: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine|date=October 2009|pages=13–14|url=http://new-harvest.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/production_of_animal_proteins_1207.pdf|access-date=27 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112053810/http://new-harvest.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/production_of_animal_proteins_1207.pdf|archive-date=12 November 2013}} Some researchers propose that the ability of algae and cyanobacteria to produce ingredients for culture media can be improved with certain technologies, most likely not excluding genetic engineering.{{cite conference|last=Tuomisto|first=Hanna L.|author2=Teixeira de Mattos, M. J.|title=Life cycle assessment of cultured meat production|date=22–24 September 2010|page=5 |conference=7th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/215666764|access-date=27 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203134341/http://www.researchgate.net/publication/215666764_Life_cycle_assessment_of_cultured_meat_production/file/3e59333858b59f32c3e49e3beffb25c5.pdf|archive-date=3 February 2014}}

Australian bioethicist Julian Savulescu said, "Artificial meat stops cruelty to animals, is better for the environment, could be safer and more efficient, and even healthier. We have a moral obligation to support this kind of research. It gets the ethical two thumbs up."{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/05/synthetic-meat-burger-stem-cells|title=Synthetic meat: how the world's costliest burger made it on to the plate|author=Alok Jha|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=2 February 2016|date=5 August 2013|archive-date=4 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604132845/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/05/synthetic-meat-burger-stem-cells|url-status=live}} Animal welfare groups are generally in favor of cultured meat, because the culture process does not include a nervous system and therefore does not involve pain or infringement of rights.{{cite news|last=Raizel|first=Robin|date=11 December 2005|title=In Vitro Meat|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E4D81331F932A25751C1A9639C8B63|access-date=7 August 2009|archive-date=22 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322112604/https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E4D81331F932A25751C1A9639C8B63|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine |url=http://discovermagazine.com/2008/oct/22-i.ll-have-my-burger-petri-dish-bred |title=I'll Have My Burger Petri-Dish Bred, With Extra Omega-3 |first=Susan |last=Kruglinski |author2=Wright, Karen |magazine=Discover |date=22 September 2008 |access-date=8 August 2009 |archive-date=10 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110055836/http://discovermagazine.com/2008/oct/22-i.ll-have-my-burger-petri-dish-bred |url-status=live }} Reactions of vegetarians to cultured meat vary.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17113214|title=Could vegetarians eat a 'test tube' burger?|newspaper=BBC News|access-date=2 February 2016|date=23 February 2012|last1=Izundu|first1=Chi Chi|archive-date=3 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403084652/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17113214|url-status=live}} Some feel the cultured meat presented to the public in August 2013 was not vegetarian because fetal bovine serum was used in the growth medium.{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/07/can-vegetarians-eat-in-vitro-meat-the-debate-rages.html|title=Can Vegetarians Eat In-Vitro Meat? The Debate Rages.|newspaper=The Daily Beast|access-date=2 February 2016|date=7 August 2013|last1=Hines|first1=Nico|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303050019/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/07/can-vegetarians-eat-in-vitro-meat-the-debate-rages.html|url-status=live}} However, since then, cultured meat has been grown with a medium that does not involve bovine serum.{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/lab-grown-meat-startup-solving-barrier-meat-without-slaughter-meatable-2018-9|title=A new lab-grown meat startup may have overcome a key barrier to making meat without slaughter.|work=UK Business Insider|access-date=28 September 2018|date=28 September 2018|archive-date=6 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006142202/http://uk.businessinsider.com/lab-grown-meat-startup-solving-barrier-meat-without-slaughter-meatable-2018-9|url-status=live}} Philosopher Carlo Alvaro argues that the question of the morality of eating in vitro meat has been discussed only in terms of convenience. Alvaro proposes a virtue-oriented approach, suggesting that the determination to produce cultured meat stems from unvirtuous motives, i.e., "lack of temperance and misunderstanding of the role of food in human flourishing."Alvaro, C. (2019) Lab‐Grown Meat and Veganism: A Virtue‐Oriented Perspective. J Agric Environ Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-019-09759-2, p. 17.

Some have proposed independent inquiries into the standards, laws, and regulations for cultured meat.[http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/topic/In%20vitro%20meat In vitro meat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121015931/http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/topic/In%20vitro%20meat |date=21 November 2011 }} at Food Ethics Council Just as with many other foods, cultured meat needs technically sophisticated production methods that may be difficult for some communities, meaning they would lack self-sufficiency and be dependent on global food corporations.{{Cite web |url=http://www.new-harvest.org/2013/07/in-vitro-meat-power-authenticity-and-vegetarianism-john-miller/ |title=In Vitro Meat: Power, Authenticity and Vegetarianism |access-date=5 August 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130805104702/http://www.new-harvest.org/2013/07/in-vitro-meat-power-authenticity-and-vegetarianism-john-miller/ |archive-date=5 August 2013 }} Some projects are focusing on making cellular agriculture accessible to all. The Shojinmeat Project, for instance, has a bottom-up approach, teaching participants to cultivate DIY cultured meat at home.{{Cite web|date=2018-04-16|title=Shojinmeat is Growing a DIY Clean Meat Community|url=https://thespoon.tech/shojinmeat-is-growing-a-diy-clean-meat-community/|access-date=2022-01-12|website=The Spoon|language=en-US}}

Establishing a similar parallel with cultured meat, some environmental activists claim that adopting a vegetarian diet may be a way of focusing on personal actions and righteous gestures rather than systemic change. Environmentalist Dave Riley states that "being meatless and guiltless seems seductively simple while environmental destruction rages around us", and writes that Mollison "insists that vegetarianism drives animals from the edible landscape so that their contribution to the food chain is lost".{{cite web|url= http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/5814|title= Does meat make the meal?|date= 2016-09-05}}

Jewish rabbinical authorities disagree whether cultured meat is kosher, meaning acceptable under Jewish law and practice. One factor is the nature of the animal from which the cells are sourced, whether it is a kosher or non-kosher species and whether, if the cells were taken from a dead animal, slaughter in accordance with religious practice had taken place prior to the extraction of cells. Most authorities agree that if the original cells were taken from a religiously slaughtered animal then the meat cultured from it will be kosher.{{cite journal |last1=Kenigsberg |first1=Joel |last2=Zivotofsky |first2=Ari |date=January 22, 2020 |title=A Jewish Religious Perspective on Cellular Agriculture |journal=Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems |volume=3 |doi=10.3389/fsufs.2019.00128 |doi-access=free }} Depending on the nature of the cells, it may be determined to be kosher even when taken from a live animal, and some have argued that it would be kosher even if coming from non-kosher animals such as pigs. In 2023 the issue of lab meat being a non-meat product or "pareve" has come up for debate.{{cite web | url=https://www.greenprophet.com/2023/07/will-lab-cultivated-meat-break-kosher-guidelines/ | title=Will Lab Cultivated Meat break kosher guidelines? - Green Prophet | date=27 July 2023 }} In 2023 the Chief Rabbi of Israel ruled that some types of cultured meat are kosher, and if not made to resemble meat, can have pareve status.{{Cite web |last=Klein |first=Zvika |date=2023-01-19 |title=Chief Rabbi: Cultured meat is considered a vegetable but can't be consumed with dairy |url=https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-728978 |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=The Jerusalem Post |language=en}}

Islamic dietary practices have also been considered.{{Cite journal|last1=Hamdan|first1=Mohammad Naqib|last2=Post|first2=Mark J.|last3=Ramli|first3=Mohd Anuar|last4=Mustafa|first4=Amin Rukaini|date=1 December 2018|title=Cultured Meat in Islamic Perspective|journal=Journal of Religion and Health|language=en|volume=57|issue=6|pages=2193–2206|doi=10.1007/s10943-017-0403-3|pmid=28456853|s2cid=9217711|issn=1573-6571}} Amid discussion following the presentation of the 2013 Maastricht burger, Abdul Qahir Qamar of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy said that cultured meat "will not be considered meat from live animals, but will be cultured meat." As long as the cells are not from pigs, dogs, and other haram animals, the meat would be considered vegetative and "similar to yogurt and fermented pickles."{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lab-burger-kosher-halal_n_3733851|title=But Is It Kosher?|date=9 August 2013|website=HuffPost|language=en|access-date=5 December 2019}}

Catholicism, which excludes eating meat in certain days along the year (Lent, Holy Week), has not pronounced on whether cultivated meat is banned (as it happens with meat) or not (as with any other food as vegetables or fish). Hinduism typically excludes the consumption of beef, such as steak and burgers. Chandra Kaushik, president of the Hindu Mahasabha, said about cultured beef that he would "not accept it being traded in a marketplace in any form or being used for a commercial purpose."

Cultured meat is significantly more costly than conventional meat. In a March 2015 interview, Post said that the marginal cost of his team's original €250,000 burger was now €8.00. He estimated that technological advancements would allow the product to be cost-competitive to traditionally sourced beef in approximately ten years.{{cite news|last1=Post|first1=Mark|date=26 March 2015|title=Mark Post of Maastricht University in the Netherlands has developed synthetic beef patties.|work=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-27/mark-post-synthetic-beef/6352860|access-date=14 May 2015}} In 2018, Memphis Meats reduced the cost of production to $1,700 per pound.{{Cite news|author=Chris Dart|date=4 May 2020|title=Documentary 'Meat the Future' shows us the possible future of meat|work=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|url=https://www.cbc.ca/documentarychannel/m_features/documentary-meat-the-future-shows-us-the-possible-future-of-meat|access-date=26 May 2020|archive-date=13 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513045135/https://www.cbc.ca/akam/13/pixel_27db6754|url-status=live}} In 2019, Eat Just said it cost about US$50 to produce one chicken nugget.{{cite news |last1=Morrison |first1=Oliver |title='A major milestone for lab-grown meat': Could Eat Just's approval in Asia hurry the market in Europe? |url=https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2020/12/04/A-major-milestone-for-lab-grown-meat-Could-Eat-Just-s-approval-in-Asia-hurry-the-market-in-Europe |access-date=10 April 2021 |work=foodnavigator.com |publisher=William Reed Business Media |date=4 December 2020}} The company's cultured chicken nuggets, now available at Singapore restaurant 1880, retail around US$17 as part of a set meal;{{Cite web|last=Gilchrist|first=Karen|date=2021-03-01|title=This multibillion-dollar company is selling lab-grown chicken in a world-first|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/01/eat-just-good-meat-sells-lab-grown-cultured-chicken-in-world-first.html|access-date=2022-01-12|website=CNBC|language=en}} however, this retail price is below cost. As of 2021, most companies report a production cost of $100 or more per meal-sized serving.{{cite news |title=Eat Just is racing to put 'no-kill meat' on your plate. Is it too good to be true? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/jun/16/eat-just-no-kill-meat-chicken-josh-tetrick |access-date=30 November 2022 |work=the Guardian |date=16 June 2021 |language=en}} A 2019 study estimated that, with current technology, the actual production cost of cultured meat was over $400,000 per kilogram. A 2022 study estimated that, if dramatic advances drove medium costs down to $3.74 per liter, large-scale production costs might optimistically fall to $63 per kilogram over the next few years. The main drivers of cost would be growth medium (accounting for $19.7/kg), labor ($17.7/kg), and bioreactor repairs ($5.47/kg). Competing with wholesale beef ($6/kg) would require reducing all three of these costs.{{cite journal |last1=Garrison |first1=Greg L. |last2=Biermacher |first2=Jon T. |last3=Brorsen |first3=B. Wade |title=How much will large-scale production of cell-cultured meat cost? |journal=Journal of Agriculture and Food Research |date=December 2022 |volume=10 |page=100358 |doi=10.1016/j.jafr.2022.100358|s2cid=251688429 |doi-access=free }}

A scientific paper published in Front. Sustain. Food Syst. addresses the social and economic opportunities and challenges of cultured and plant-based meat for rural producers. According to this research, cellular agriculture offers "opportunities such as growing crops as ingredients for feedstock for cultured meat; raising animals for genetic material for cultured meat; producing cultured meat in bioreactors at the farm level; transitioning into new sectors; new market opportunities for blended and hybrid animal- and alt-meat products; and new value around regenerative or high-animal welfare farming." Some challenges are also identified, with possible "loss of livelihood or income for ranchers and livestock producers and for farmers growing crops for animal feed; barriers to transitioning into emerging alt-meat sectors; and the possibility of exclusion from those sectors."

Some farmers already see the potential of cellular agriculture. For instance, Illtud Dunsford comes from a long line of farmers in Wales and established his cultured meat company Cellular Agriculture Ltd in 2016.{{Cite news|date=2019-03-19|title=Artificial meat: UK scientists growing 'bacon' in labs|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47611026|access-date=2022-01-12}}

In 2015, Maastricht University hosted the first International Conference on Cultured Meat.{{cite web|title=International Conference on Cultured Meat 2015|url=https://culturedbeef.org/pictures-conference-2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209182021/https://culturedbeef.org/pictures-conference-2015|archive-date=9 February 2017|access-date=10 April 2019|website=Cultured Beef}} New Harvest{{cite news|last=Albrecht|first=Chris|date=20 July 2018|title=Catch Video from the New Harvest Cultured Meat Conference|work=The Spoon|url=https://thespoon.tech/catch-video-from-the-new-harvest-cultured-meat-conference/|access-date=10 April 2019}}—a 501(c)(3) research institute—as well as The Good Food Institute{{cite web|title=The Good Food Conference|url=https://goodfoodconference.com/title=International|access-date=10 April 2019|website=The Good Food Conference}}{{Dead link|date=July 2020|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} host annual conferences to convene industry leaders, scientists, investors, and potential collaborators. The two organizations also fund public research and produce educational content. Organizations such as the Cellular Agriculture Society and similar organizations in Canada, France, Australia, and New Zealand were founded to advocate for cultured meat in their respective countries.{{citation needed |date=October 2020}} Publications such as Cell Agri and Protein Report have also provided updates concerning technology and business within the field.{{Cite web |title=April 2023: The Month in Review |url= https://www.cell.ag/blog/april-2023-month-in-review |website=Cell Agri |access-date=2024-06-03 }}{{Cite web |title=Cell-Based |url=https://www.proteinreport.org/cell-based/ |access-date=2024-06-03 |website=Protein Report}}

Research continues on many fronts, including entomoculture, interactome maps of cardiac tissue,{{Cite web|title=Current Research Projects|url=https://www.new-harvest.org/current_research_projects|access-date=2020-10-21|website=New Harvest|language=en}} substrate design, scaffold design, nutritional profile, reaction kinetics, transport phenomena, mass transfer limitations and metabolic stoichiometric requirements, and bioprinting process.

Multiple venture capital firms and accelerator/incubator programs focus on assisting cultured technology startups, or plant-based protein companies in general. The Big Idea Ventures (BIV) Venture Capital firm launched their New Protein Fund to invest in emerging cell and plant-based food companies in New York and Singapore. They invested in MeliBio, Actual Veggies, Biftek.co, Orbillion Bio, Yoconut, Evo, WildFor and Novel Farms.{{Cite web|date=2020-08-13|title=Meet the 13 Companies Chosen for Cohort II of Big Idea Ventures' Alt-Protein Accelerator|url=https://thespoon.tech/meet-the-13-companies-chosen-for-cohort-ii-of-big-idea-ventures-alt-protein-accelerator/|access-date=2020-10-28|website=The Spoon|language=en-US |first=Jennifer |last=Marston}} Indie Bio is a biology oriented accelerator program that has invested in Memphis Meats, Geltor, New Age Meats and Finless Foods.{{Cite web|title=Companies|url=https://indiebio.co/companies/|access-date=2020-10-28|website=IndieBio|language=en-US}}

{{more citations needed section|date=May 2020}}

Cultured meat has often featured in science fiction. The earliest mention may be in Two Planets (1897) by Kurd Lasswitz, where "synthetic meat" is one of the varieties of synthetic food introduced on Earth by Martians. Other notable books mentioning artificial meat include Methuselah's Children (1941) by Robert A. Heinlein; Ashes, Ashes (1943) by René Barjavel; The Space Merchants (1952) by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth; The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980) by Douglas Adams; Le Transperceneige (Snowpiercer) (1982) by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette; Neuromancer (1984) by William Gibson; Oryx and Crake (2003) by Margaret Atwood; Deadstock (2007) by Jeffrey Thomas; Accelerando (2005) by Charles Stross; Ware Tetralogy by Rudy Rucker; Divergent (2011) by Veronica Roth; and the Vorkosigan Saga (1986–2018) by Lois McMaster Bujold.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

In film, artificial meat has featured prominently in Giulio Questi's 1968 drama La morte ha fatto l'uovo (Death Laid an Egg) and Claude Zidi's 1976 comedy L'aile ou la cuisse (The Wing or the Thigh). "Man-made" chickens also appear in David Lynch's 1977 surrealist horror, Eraserhead. Most recently, it was also featured prominently as the central theme of the movie Antiviral (2012).{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} The Starship Enterprise from the TV and movie franchise Star Trek apparently provides a synthetic meat,{{cite news|title=Star Trek 'Charlie X'}} although crews from The Next Generation and later use replicators.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} In the ABC sitcom Better Off Ted (2009–2010), the episode "Heroes" features Phil (Jonathan Slavin) and Lem (Malcolm Barrett) trying to grow cowless beef.{{Citation |last=Fresco |first=Michael |title=Heroes |date=2009-03-25 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1402241/ |series=Better Off Ted |access-date=2022-10-25}}

In the movie Galaxy Quest during the dinner scene, Tim Allen's character refers to his steak tasting like "real Iowa beef".{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} In the videogame Project Eden, the player characters investigate a cultured meat company called Real Meat.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} In The Expanse, "vat-grown" meat is produced to feed the people who live on spaceships/space stations away from Earth, due to the exorbitant cost of importing real meat.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} Cultured meat was a subject on an episode of The Colbert Report on 17 March 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.cc.com/video-clips/bsv6p7/the-colbert-report-world-of-nahlej---shmeat |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309084449/http://www.cc.com/video-clips/bsv6p7/the-colbert-report-world-of-nahlej---shmeat |archive-date=9 March 2016 |title=The Colbert Report: World of Nahlej – Shmeat|publisher=Comedy Central|date=17 March 2009|access-date=1 December 2016}}

In February 2014, a biotech startup called BiteLabs ran a campaign to generate popular support for artisanal salami made with meat cultured from celebrity tissue samples.{{Cite web|url=http://bitelabs.org/|title=BiteLabs|website=bitelabs.org|access-date=20 October 2014|archive-date=25 February 2014|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225232003/http://bitelabs.org/}} The campaign became popular on Twitter, where users tweeted at celebrities asking them to donate muscle cells to the project.{{cite news| url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/03/celebrity-salami-bitelabs_n_4890762.html | work=The Huffington Post | title=Hunger Game? Startup Whets Public Appetite For Salami Made From Celebrities | date=3 March 2014 |first=Andres |last=Jauregui}} Media reactions to BiteLabs variously identified the startup as a satire on startup culture,{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-guy-who-want-to-sell-you-salami-made-out-of-james-franco-are-100-serious/|title=The Guy Who Wants to Sell Lab-Grown Salami Made of Kanye West Is "100% Serious"|date=26 February 2014 |work=Motherboard |publisher=Vice |first=Brian |last=Merchant}} celebrity culture,{{cite news| url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2014/02/28/celebrity-meat-bite-labs-fake/ | magazine=Time | date=28 February 2014 | title=No, This Website Won't Actually Make Salami Out Of Famous People |first=Kate |last=Knibbs}} or as a discussion prompt on bioethical concerns.{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-bitelabs-make-salami-celebrity-tissue-samples-20140304-story.html | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Jenn | last=Harris | title=Ellen DeGeneres salami? One company's quest to make meat from celebrity tissue samples | date=5 March 2014}} While BiteLabs claimed to be inspired by the success of Sergey Brin's burger, the company is seen as an example of critical design rather than an actual business venture.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

In late 2016, cultured meat was involved in a case in the episode "How The Sausage Is Made" of CBS show Elementary.{{Cite web |title=Elementary - How the Sausage is Made - Review: "Fake Meat, Real Murder" |url=https://www.spoilertv.com/2016/12/elementary-how-sausage-is-made-review.html |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=www.spoilertv.com|date=7 December 2016 }} Cultured meat was profiled in the 2020 Canadian documentary film Meat the Future.Dorothy Woodend, [https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2020/05/15/Ready-Meat-Future/ "Are We Ready to 'Meat the Future'?"]. The Tyee, May 15, 2020. In the 2020 video game Cyberpunk 2077, multiple cultured meat products are for sale, due to the high cost of natural meat. This includes "EEZYBEEF", made from in vitro cultured muscle cells taken from cattle, and the flatworm culture based "Orgiatic" which comes in several flavors.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Acellular agriculture is producing animal products synthesized from non-living material. Such products include milk, honey, eggs, cheese, and gelatin which are made of various proteins rather than cells.{{cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=Satnam |last2=Yap |first2=Wee Swan |last3=Ge |first3=Xiao Yu |last4=Min |first4=Veronica Lee Xi |last5=Choudhury |first5=Deepak |title=Cultured meat production fuelled by fermentation |journal=Trends in Food Science & Technology |date=2022 |volume=120 |pages=48–58 |doi=10.1016/j.tifs.2021.12.028}} These proteins must be fermented much like in recombinant protein production, alcohol brewing and the generation of many plant-based products like tofu, tempeh and sauerkraut.{{Cite web|date=August 16, 2016|title=What is Cellular Agriculture?|url=https://www.new-harvest.org/what_is_cellular_agriculture|access-date=2020-10-28|website=New Harvest|language=en}}

File:Impossible Burger - Gott's Roadside- 2018 - Stierch.jpg

Proteins are coded for by specific genes, the genes coding for the protein of interest are synthesized into a plasmid—a closed loop of double helical genetic information. This plasmid, called recombinant DNA, is then inserted into a bacterial specimen. For this to happen, the bacteria needs to be competent (i.e. able to accept foreign, extracellular DNA) and able to horizontally transfer genes (i.e. integrate the foreign genes into its own DNA). Horizontal gene transfer is significantly more challenging in eukaryotic organisms than prokaryotic organisms because the former have both a cell membrane and a nuclear membrane which the plasmid needs to penetrate whereas prokaryotic organisms only have a cell membrane. For this reason, prokaryotic bacteria are often favoured. In order to make such a bacteria temporarily competent, it can be exposed to a salt such as calcium chloride, which neutralizes the negative charges on the cell membrane's phosphate heads as well as the negative charges on the plasmid to prevent the two from repelling. The bacteria can incubate in warm water, opening large pores on the cell surface through which the plasmid can enter.{{Cite news|title=CaCl2 Transformation Technique|url=https://www.mybiosource.com/learn/testing-procedures/cacl2-transformation-technique/|access-date=2020-10-28|website=MyBioSource Learning Center|language=en-US}}

Next, the bacteria is fermented in sugar, which encourages it to grow and duplicate. In the process it expresses its DNA as well as the transferred plasmid resulting in protein.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} Finally, the solution is purified to separate out the residual protein. This can be done by introducing an antibody raised against the protein of interest that will kill bacteria cells that do not contain the protein. Through centrifugation, the solution can be spun around an axis with sufficient force to separate solids from liquids. Alternatively it could be soaked in a buffered ionic solution that employs osmosis to leach the water from bacteria and kill them.{{Cite journal|last=Wingfield|first=Paul T.|date=2015-04-01|title=Overview of the Purification of Recombinant Proteins|journal=Current Protocols in Protein Science |volume=80|pages=6.1.1–6.1.35|doi=10.1002/0471140864.ps0601s80|issn=1934-3655|pmc=4410719|pmid=25829302}}

• Meat analogue (meat alternative)
• List of meat substitutes
• Timeline of cellular agriculture
• Tissue culture

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last1=Shapiro |first1=Paul |last2=Harari |first2=Yuval Noaḥ |title=How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World |date=2018 |publisher=Gallery Books |isbn=978-1-5011-8908-1 |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Clean-Meat/Paul-Shapiro/9781501189081}}
• {{cite book |last1=Wurgaft |first1=Benjamin Aldes |title=Meat Planet: Artificial Flesh and the Future of Food |date=2019 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Oakland |isbn=978-0-520-29553-7 |url=https://www.ucpress.edu/books/meat-planet/paper}}
• {{cite book |last1=Purdy |first1=Chase |title=Billion dollar burger: inside big tech's race for the future of food |date=2020 |publisher=Portfolio |location=New York |isbn=978-0-525-53694-9 |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/576770/billion-dollar-burger-by-chase-purdy/9780525536949}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Rubio |first1=Natalie R. |last2=Xiang |first2=Ning |last3=Kaplan |first3=David L. |title=Plant-based and cell-based approaches to meat production |journal=Nature Communications |date=2020 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=6276 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-20061-y |pmid=33293564 |doi-access=free |pmc=7722853|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.6276R }}
• {{cite book |last1=Zimberoff |first1=Larissa |title=Technically Food: Inside Silicon Valley’s Mission to Change What We Eat |date=2021 |publisher=Abrams Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4197-4709-0 |url=https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/technically-food_9781419747090/}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Ellies-Oury |first1=Marie-Pierre |last2=Chriki |first2=Sghaier |last3=Hocquette |first3=Jean-François |title=Chapter Six - Should and will "cultured meat" become a reality in our plates? |journal=Advances in Food and Nutrition Research |date=2022 |volume=101 |pages=181–212 |doi=10.1016/bs.afnr.2022.04.005|pmid=35940705 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Ching |first1=Xin Li |last2=Zainal |first2=Nur Anis Athira Binti |last3=Luang-In |first3=Vijitra |last4=Ma |first4=Nyuk Ling |title=Lab-based meat the future food |journal=Environmental Advances |date=2022 |volume=10 |pages=100315 |doi=10.1016/j.envadv.2022.100315 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2022EnvAd..1000315C }}
• {{cite book |title=Cultivated Meat to Secure Our Future: Hope for Animals, Food Security, and the Environment |date=2023 |publisher=Lantern Publishing & Media |location=Woodstock |isbn=978-1-59056-697-8 |url=https://lanternpm.org/book/cultivated-meat-to-secure-our-future/}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Nicola |title=Lab-grown meat: the science of turning cells into steaks and nuggets |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02095-6 |journal=Nature |volume=619 |date=4 July 2023 |issue=7968 |pages=22–24 |language=en |doi=10.1038/d41586-023-02095-6|pmid=37402799 |bibcode=2023Natur.619...22J |url-access=subscription }}
• {{cite journal |title=A conversation about cultivated meat |journal=Nature Communications |date=2023 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=8331 |doi=10.1038/s41467-023-43984-8 |doi-access=free|pmid=38097639 |pmc=10721920 |bibcode=2023NatCo..14.8331. }}
• {{cite book |last1=McClements |first1=David Julian |title=Meat Less: The Next Food Revolution |date=2023 |publisher=Springer |location=Cham |isbn=978-3-031-23961-8 |pages=149–183 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-23961-8_7 |language=en |chapter=Biotech Meat: Growing Meat from Cells |series=Copernicus Books |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-23961-8_7}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Deliza |first1=Rosires |last2=Rodríguez |first2=Brayan |last3=Reinoso-Carvalho |first3=Felipe |last4=Lucchese-Cheung |first4=Thelma |title=Cultured meat: a review on accepting challenges and upcoming possibilities |journal=Current Opinion in Food Science |date=2023 |volume=52 |pages=101050 |doi=10.1016/j.cofs.2023.101050}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Jahir |first1=Nur Rasyidah |last2=Ramakrishna |first2=Seeram |last3=Abdullah |first3=Amirul Al Ashraf |last4=Vigneswari |first4=Sevakumaran |title=Cultured meat in cellular agriculture: Advantages, applications and challenges |journal=Food Bioscience |date=2023 |volume=53 |pages=102614 |doi=10.1016/j.fbio.2023.102614}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Broucke |first1=Keshia |last2=Van Pamel |first2=Els |last3=Van Coillie |first3=Els |last4=Herman |first4=Lieve |last5=Van Royen |first5=Geert |title=Cultured meat and challenges ahead: A review on nutritional, technofunctional and sensorial properties, safety and legislation |journal=Meat Science |date=2023 |volume=195 |pages=109006 |doi=10.1016/j.meatsci.2022.109006|pmid=36274374 }}
• {{cite book |title=Advances in cultured meat technology |date=2023 |publisher=Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-1-003-41209-0 |edition=1st |doi=10.1201/9781003412090 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.1201/9781003412090/advances-cultured-meat-technology-mark-post-che-connon-chris-bryant}}
• {{cite book |title=Cellular Agriculture Technology, Society, Sustainability and Science |date=2024 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-443-18767-4 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780443187674/cellular-agriculture |language=en}}
• {{cite book |title=Cultivated Meat: Technologies, Commercialization and Challenges |date=2024 |publisher=Springer Cham |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-55968-6 |isbn=978-3-031-55968-6 |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-55968-6 |language=en |editor-last1=Soccol |editor-last2=Molento |editor-last3=Reis |editor-last4=Karp |editor-first1=Carlos Ricardo |editor-first2=Carla Forte Maiolino |editor-first3=Germano Glufke |editor-first4=Susan Grace }}
• {{cite book |last1=Akhter |first1=Shazia |last2=Rather |first2=Jahangir Ahmad |last3=Amin |first3=Tawheed |last4=Naseem |first4=Zahida |last5=Tariq |first5=Ruqaya |last6=Sofi |first6=Aaruba Maqbool |title=Hand Book of Processed Functional Meat Products |date=2024 |publisher=Springer Cham |isbn=978-3-031-69868-2 |pages=349–364 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-69868-2_14 |language=en |chapter=Cultured Meat |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-69868-2_14}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Castellani |first1=Paola |last2=Cassia |first2=Fabio |last3=Vargas-Sánchez |first3=Alfonso |last4=Giaretta |first4=Elena |title=Food innovation towards a sustainable world: A study on intention to purchase lab-grown meat |journal=Technological Forecasting and Social Change |date=2025 |volume=211 |pages=123912 |doi=10.1016/j.techfore.2024.123912 |doi-access=free}}

{{Meat}}

{{Effective altruism}}

{{emerging technologies|topics=yes|ag=yes}}{{Portal bar|Agriculture|Animals|Biology|Climate change|Ecology|Environment|Food|Science|Technology}}

Category:Animal rights

Category:Animal welfare

Category:Articles containing video clips

Category:Biotechnology

Category:Bright green environmentalism

Category:Cellular agriculture

Category:Food politics

Category:Meat

Category:Meat substitutes

Category:Sustainable food system

Category:Synthetic biology