SPRING 2023 | 29 Feeding a hungry world is a daunting challenge. The world population has grown sevenfold since 1800—to a whopping 8 billion-plus people and rising—and resources are being gobbled up at an alarming rate to support that growth. One part of the solution could come from interdisciplinary research led by Kelly Schultz, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. Schultz leads a team composed of three other researchers— Mark Snyder and Angela Brown, associate professors of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and Steven McIntosh, professor, Zisman family chair and department chair of chemical and biomolecular engineering—that is collaborating on a project widely considered to be a key to future sustainability. They’re trying to grow meat, literally. To be clear, this is not about plantbased products that mimic the taste and texture of real meat, such as the popular Impossible Burger, although such products are considered a part of the sustainability solution. This is about real meat, created from the tissue of animals. This is about meat cultivated from live cells, meat packed with natural protein that does not require breeding or slaughtering animals. While the first reaction many people have to the idea of growing meat is a negative one, Schultz counters that it is not strange at all. “In the end, it is a piece of meat grown out of an animal’s living cells. It’s just grown a different way than we’re used to,” she explains. The concept is not new. Scientists have been experimenting with growing meat in a lab for more than a decade. Projects are diverse, with some backed by billionaire entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates and Richard Branson, movie stars such as Ashton Kutcher and even big meat companies such as Tyson Foods. It was big news in 2013, when a lab in the Netherlands unveiled its $330,000 hamburger—a reference to the large donation from Google co-founder and entrepreneur Sergey Brin to the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, where professor Mark Post’s team produced a palatable patty cultivated from animal cells. Post went on to found Mosa Meat, which is scaling up production and scaling down the cost in anticipation of seeking approval to sell its burgers. One company—Good Meat—has gone commercial, with cell-cultivated chicken sold in Singapore. And in November 2022, UPSIDE Foods in San Francisco received a green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to grow its meat, a first in this country. Schultz says while the industry has come a long way in a short time, creating meat just as tasty as farmed meat for the same cost is an ongoing challenge. A major problem is creating the proper texture for whole cuts of meat—like a steak or a chicken breast. “You’ve seen the $300,000 hamburger. And what that is is meat. But it’s mushy and it is not well organized,” Schultz says. “You can also grow a small piece of meat, a 2D piece of meat, but you are limited. Kelly Schultz leads a team of researchers in a project considered key to future sustainability. Illustration of store-bought meat, not lab-cultivated meat. Story by Jodi Duckett Photography by Christa Neu
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