If you are interested in the science behind cell-based meat, here are some excellent resources to investigate further.

A good starting point for learning the science behind cell-based meat are the websites of two non-profit think-tanks The Good Food Institute (GFI) and New Harvest. They have a range of resources from simple graphic diagrams and animations, to summaries of and links to real research papers. Next, check out the websites of the start-up companies themselves. You can access these via our Companies page. This useful animation by Mosa Meat is excellent and actually describes the process behind the first cell-based hamburger made in 2013.

While this is basically a proof of concept, showing how a muscle cell taken from living tissue can be prompted to replicate and form muscle meat in a lab, it is a long way from the science needed to produce saleable meat at scale. To do that, GFI identifies 4 main areas that researchers need to concentrate on.

Cell lines – Coming up with the best cell lines for each species – those that proliferate and differentiate most stably and efficiently in a large scale production environment.

Cell culture media – Producing cost effective, animal-free media which contains the optimum mixture of basal nutrients like salts, lipids, sugars and amino acids but also the magic growth factors that tell cells how to behave and when.

Scaffolding platforms for 3D tissue structure – Designing an edible or biodegradable matrix to support the tissue’s growth into meat like structures by providing a substrate and a means for media to flow through and reach cells.

Bioreactor and bioprocess design – Designing industrial scale, energy and resource efficient bioprocessing systems that allow for the optimal proliferation of cells and perfusion of media while the cells are maturing.

The following resources discuss these areas more closely and are loosely ordered in increasing complexity and depth.

To further support the sharing of cell-based (and plant-based) meat technology, GFI has started a new Twitter feed @GoodFoodScience. This is where they will announce the release of each Reddit series instalment and presumably talk about the grant research updates. Definitely a good idea to follow GFI on all platforms if the science is what you're interested in.