Bioprocess development for scalable production of cultivated meat

Traditional farm‐based products based on livestock are one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Cultivated meat is an alternative that mimics animal meat, being produced in a bioreactor under controlled conditions rather than through the slaughtering of animals. The first step in the production of cultivated meat is the generation of sufficient reserves of starting cells. In this study, bovine adipose‐derived stem cells (bASCs) were used as starting cells due to their ability to differentiate towards both fat and muscle, two cell types found in meat. A bioprocess for the expansion of these cells on microcarriers in spinner flasks was developed. Different cell seeding densities (1,500, 3,000, and 6,000 cells/cm2) and feeding strategies (80%, 65%, 50%, and combined 80%/50% medium exchanges) were investigated. Cell characterization was assessed pre‐ and postbioprocessing to ensure that bioprocessing did not negatively affect bASC quality. The best growth was obtained with the lowest cell seeding density (1,500 cells/cm2) with an 80% medium exchange performed (p .5) was found in clonogenicity pre‐ or postbioprocessing in any of the feeding regimes tested. The first step in producing cultivated meat is expansion of starting cells. Bovine adipose‐derived stem cells can be used as starting cells as they can form fat and muscle – 2 cell types present in meat. Hanga and co‐workers have developed a bioprocess for the scalable expansion of these cells and investigated the effect of different cell seeding densities and feeding regimes on cell expansion. The optimal bioprocess yielded a 28‐fold increase in pre‐processing quality cells in 10 days.