source:giphy

🍜 Cell based meat in-your-ramen-research is underway! Hiroki Ando, President and CEO of Nissin Food Holdings has been working with researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (Uni. Tokyo) to produce diced steak using cell based technology. The research group had success in the maturation process of bovine muscle cells feeding the cells vitamin C and using collagen gel as a scaffold structure. http://cellbased.link/6ff20

Why We Care: Diced steak is the meat component of ramen and Nissin is a global ramen powerhouse. This is the first example we’ve seen of a food processor incorporating cell based meat into their product, creating a more vertically integrated supply chain.

Investments

At the 11th Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC) Meeting in Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong confirmed an investment of $144 million shall be allocated to carry out R&D in Sustainable Urban Food Production, Future Foods and Food Safety Science & Innovation. Food innovation includes “improvement of the functionality, formulation and flavor of plant-based protein food products, as well as developing scaffolding techniques with sustainable, cost-effective cell culture media for cell-based cultured meat.” http://cellbased.link/daa64

Advancements

🌽 Last week, we reported on researchers from University of Bath using grass as scaffolding to grow cell based meat. This week, researchers from Penn State and the University of Alabama are experimenting with the use of starch fibers (from corn) as scaffolding for cell based meat.

What this means: The scaffold used in cell based meat production will ultimately become part of the finished product that we eat. Many of the current scaffolds used in biomedical applications are made from plastic, which will not fly for consumption. Companies must find scaffolding for cells that take into consideration a variety of design requirements: bio-compatibility, biodegradability, elasticity, pore size, geometry, tensile strength while being edible and economically efficient. http://cellbased.link/a02c0

🌿 Another week, another cell based cannabinoid. Public company Amyris, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMRS) has officially announced an agreement to develop, license, and commercialize cell based cannabinoids for newly formed cannabis company LAVVAN, Inc.

What Amyris gets: $300 million of R&D and milestone payments plus long-term royalties for the development of synthetic cannabinoids.

LAVVAN will be responsible for the global manufacturing and commercialization of the cannabinoids.

According to an Amyris company press release, the company is poised to bring consistent and pure cannabinoids, synthesized through fermentation, rather than plant propagation. Amyris is already a leader in cellular fermentation technology and currently using their platforms for products in skin care, flavors, fragrances and sweeteners. http://cellbased.link/b745f