Shojinmeat Project : Open-Source Cell-Ag Initiative
2021.03
“Shojinmeat Project” - Who we are
“Democratization of cellular agriculture”
Nonprofit non-corporate non-university citizen science community of DIY bio/fab enthusiasts, students, researcher, artists, writers etc. for cellular agriculture
Open source cellular agriculture” by DIY bio
Public communication by art and education
Ongoing projects
Creative Cells Kyoto, @CleanmeatKyoto
@officialsotakan , @_okgw
・DIY bio & cell culture experiments
・Workshops and micro-conferences
・Advocacy for cellular agriculture
・Media and social communication
・Art, design and creativity project
・Career advice in cellular agriculture
Means of food production
Hunting
Farming
Domestication
Fermentation
Synthesis
Cell culture
“Meat”
From where?
Meat is ~x40 more resource intensive
Lamb：~x50, Beef：~x40, Pork：~x20, Poultry：~x7
“Meat”←animals←feed, water, land
Deforestation
Public health hazard
Water shortage
“Meat”←animals←feed, water, land
Hoekstra, Mekonnen, PNAS 2012
Poore, Nemecek, Science 2018
Ventola, NCBI 2015,
Food vs. Feed vs. Fuel
Agri-
cultural resources
Food
Feed
Fuel
Poore, Nemecek, Science 2018
Anticipated alternative proteins
*As demand for protein grows, existing meat cannot sustainably serve for all.
Meat
Soy etc.
Dairy
Meat
Dairy
Soy etc.
New alternative protein
Plant-based
Tofu
Algae
Insects
Biosynthetic
Cell-based
New protein source
“Meat & dairy produced in new ways”
Plant-based meat & dairy equivalent
Now
Future
Cellular Agriculture
Agricultural products by cell culture
Medicine technology, Agriculture application
Cell-cultured meat (cell-cultivated meat)
Muscle cells
Bioreactor
Culture medium
Processing
Energy conversion efficiency
< 0.1%
Prospectively,
Microalgae: 4~11%?
“Artificial leaf”: 10%+?
https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/btpr.2941 Y.Okamoto et al. Biotech. Prog. 2019
~4%
~35%
50~90%
Unregulated
Shepon, Eschel et al, IOP Science 2016
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/10/105002/meta
Cell-ag: living things as engineering materials
Ores to metal
Petroleum to plastics
Live cells to tissues
Cyborg parts?
Research track record 1
1997
Goldfish meat
@NASA
Appearance in sci-fi - Concept known since 19th century
2004
New Harvest founded
Jason Matheny contacts NASA staff
2005
Netherlands funds €2M
2007
In vitro meat consortium
funding discontinued
funds
2000
Works by
Oron Catts
@Harvard
Lead by Willem van Eelen (deceased)
Patent filed in 1997
Research track record 2
2012
Sergey Brin from Google contacts former member of In vitro meat consortium
2013
Demonstration by Prof. Post
2014
Shojinmeat Project
2015
Memphis Meats
2015
“Cellular agriculture” - term coined
2013
New Harvest invests in cell-ag startups
(Clara Foods, Perfect Day)
2016
SuperMeat
2017
Finless Foods
€280k burger
Ongoing cellular agriculture projects
Wild Type
Fish without catch
IntegriCulture
Foie gras without ducks
Shiok Meats
Shrimp without pond or catch
The products are not “imitations” - they are (or try to be) molecularly the same!
Perfect Day
Milk without cows
Clara Foods
Egg white without chicken
Ginkgo Bioworks
Vanilla, scent, various ingredients
The positive impact
學
經
藝
Science & Technology
・Technological hurdles?
・Medical applications?
Politics & Economics
・Shift in food market?
・Industry landscape?
Arts and Culture
・Religious views?
・Social norms to change?
Hanna Tuomisto 2011
The technical problem
$325,000
Cell-based burger, 200g
Technological milestones
1. Inexpensive media
2. Scaling & automation
CapEx &
Staffing
Culture medium
$200k+/kg
Conventional method
$2
Conventional meat
price & quality parity?
3. Added value and consumer acceptance
Technological goals
Gospodarowicz D and Moran JS, 1976, Annu Rev Biochem Eagle H, 1959, Science
＝
Culture medium
Expensive for what’s actually in (as they are made by the bio-pharma grade)
Expensive and insecure supply, and serum risks infectious diseases - viruses, “mad cow” etc.
Made by fermentation of recombinants, but regulatory approval and extraction are expensive.
Basal medium
Foetal bovine serum
Signal compounds
Sugar, Amino acids, Vitamins, Minerals
$20/L
Albumin, Buffer, Insulin, Transferin
$900/L
Growth factors
Survival factors
$450/mg
Bottlenecks in culture medium
Standard DMEM(FBS10%) 500ml
DMEM 450ml $10
Serum(FBS) 50ml $45
Non essential amino acid $1.30
LIF 10 U/ml $2.00 etc・・・
Medium for 1~2g of cells： $58.30～
$5000+ for 100g
Cost of culture media for “easy” cells
Myoblast culture by Essential 8® defined serum
An analysis of culture medium costs and production volumes for cell-based meat, Liz Specht, Good Food Institute (2018)
https://www.gfi.org/files/sci-tech/clean-meat-production-volume-and-medium-cost.pdf
Basal medium
DMEM components
The E8 medium based on TeSR medium does not contain albumin and other animal-based materials, and its composition is publicly known. Its price is around $380/L.
Serum
ITS, AA2P
Signal compounds
FGF2, TGFβ
$1.60
Bulk-purchase price
$5.44
$181.36
AA2P：Vitamin C derivative
ITS：Insulin, transferin, Na2Se
500ml culture medium
100g of cells
$188.40
$15,000~
Myoblast requires FGF2 and TGFβ peptides to culture. Besides peptides, some fatty acids and cholesterols also act as signaling compounds.
Hepatocyte (liver cells) and iPSC’s, 100g
Basal medium
Serum
Signal compounds
Hepatocyte
iPSC(medical)
DMEM 450ml $10
FBS 50ml $45
Additional amino acids $1.30
HGF 20µg ~$700
EGF 10µg ~$6.40
~$760
~$90,000
~$3000
$300,000+?
Specialised medium,
~$1000/L
Often not required
Multiple GF’s i.e. “bFGF” consumed for each steps
Block et al., 1996
iPS cornea costed ~$1M
500ml culture medium
100g of cells
Cost of goods analysis
[1]GFI’s white paper https://www.gfi.org/files/sci-tech/clean-meat-production-volume-and-medium-cost.pdf
Basal medium
Serum
&
Signal compounds
Material[2] | Price | Purpose | Why expensive | Possible actions |
NaCl | $56 | Medium | Used a lot | Recycle medium |
Glucose | $50 | Cell mass | Used a lot | Less expensive procurement channel |
Amino acids | $395 | Cell mass | Used a lot | Less expensive procurement channel |
HEPES | $3933 | Medium | High unit price | Use an alternative, recycle medium |
AA2P | $10,035 | Medium | High unit price | Use an alternative, recycle medium |
Cost of goods analysis of E8 medium per 20,000L(3.5t of meat) - bulk procurement assumed[1]
Insulin | $131,920 | Serum | High unit price | Use an alternative |
Transferin | $85,600 | Serum | High unit price | Use an alternative |
FGF2 | $4,010,000 | GF | Extreme price | Use an alternative |
TGFβ | $3,236,000 | GF | Extreme price | Use an alternative |
[2] NaCl, HEPES and AA2P remains in medium while glucose and amino acids are consumed or converted into cell mass.
[3] Serum and signal compounds are expensive, but can not be recycled as they are consumed.
Strategy A：Driving down the cost
Efficiency
Stability
Unit price
Alternative
Actions taken
References
Expert interview on less expensive growth factors in Good Food Institute’s grant program:
Dr. Peter Stogios, Senior Research Associate, University of Toronto, Canada (2019):
https://www.gfi.org/dr-peter-stogios-growth-factor-research
GFI competitive grant program
Use alternatives such as fatty acids and egg yolk components
Design the growth factor molecules to increase the efficiency and reduce the required quantity
Use of larger bioreactors to grow recombinants, use of plant-based GF’s, cheaper extraction method etc.
Design the growth factor to give higher structural and thermal stability to withstand less expensive extraction methods
Serum & Signal compounds
Cost of goods (ingredients) analysis
Medium Meat
$41/L $100/lb
$15/L $36.6/lb
$4.7/L $11.5/lb
$3.7/L $9.0/lb
$0.77/L $2.2/lb
Scenario A~E
A: All GF’s down to 1/10 in cost
B: FGF2 & TGFβ at insulin price
C: A&B
D: All GF’s at $4/g
E: Basal medium at $0.23/L
“Strategy A” assumed
Analysis by the Good Food Institute (2019)
https://www.gfi.org/files/sci-tech/clean-meat-production-volume-and-medium-cost.pdf
Cocultured hepatocyte produces serum and signal compounds without a need for their external addition.
PCT/JP2016/067599 JP Pat.6111510
Integriculture Inc. / Dr. Ikko 2016
Strategy B : Large-scale coculture
Feeder bioreactor system by IntegriCulture (Japan)
Quadruple co-culture by Aleph Farms (Israel)
Basal medium
Serum &
Signal compounds
4 cell species mutually stimulate cell proliferation, i.e. fat cells enhances muscle cell proliferation.
Basal medium
Serum &
Signal compounds
Myoblast
Hepatocyte
Demonstration of coculture
Significant hepatocyte growth without added growth factors (HGF)
Control (0%)
10% conditioned medium
25% conditioned medium
50% conditioned medium
Count of cells of all sizes,
relative to the control group
mouse placental cells
dishes with Day-12 foetal liver cells in FBS 10% medium
7 Days
Transfer culture medium
Dr. Ikko 2016
Cell-based chicken liver demonstration
cell-based chicken liver paste
Grow cells
Fat-load cells
Assemble cells
Dr. Ikko 2016
Low-cost Liver cell culture
Figure by Integriculture Inc.
DMEM 450ml $10
Non essential amino acid $13.0
FBS 50ml $45
HGF 40ng/ml $700 (20µg)
EGF 20ng/ml $6.40(10µg)
$760~
Liver cell aggregate on collagen scaffold- HGF/EGF obtained from cocultured cells
DMEM 450ml $10
50ml $1.70
~$12
yeast extract, an FBS alternative
Yeast extract
“Food grade DMEM”
Culture medium, as inexpensive as bottled beverages?
DMEM 450ml $10
50ml $1.70
~$12
”DMEM” 450ml $0.09
50ml $0.01
$0.10
Sugar
Amino acids
Vitamins
Minerals
Basal
medium
=
Yeast extract
Yeast extract
Use of yeast extract marketed as food, not laboratory reagent
or its equivalent
“Food grade” demo - Sports drink culture media
90% DAKARA
80%
70%
60%
0%
(DMEM only)
50%
Days
Cell divisions
Proliferation of mouse L6 in DMEM/GreenDakara 10% FBS
#pH and osmolality of Dakara adjusted by NaHCO3(s) and 2M NaOH
Fluid name osmolality pH
DMEM(-, hi glu) 345 7.4
Pocari 338 3.4
Aquarius 291 3.37
Amino-Value 4000 289 3.63
AminoVital Gold 186 3.33
Vitamin Water 302 3.3
Green DAKARA 322 3.28
Amiiru Water 249 3.4
Mamoru Chikara 546 3.58
DIY-DMEM (home made medium)
Glucose, amino acids, vitamin B’s, salts
Mix and filter to prepare
Chicken foetus heart cells primary culture
Protein supplement
Vitamin pills
Glucose
Salts
Basal medium turning commodity product
Individual ingredients
Digested yeast residue?
Algae? Artificial photosynthesis?
Bulk purchase may partly reduce costs
Mixture of 20 amino acids, along with undigested dipeptides and tripeptides - impurities are acceptable as long as cells can be cultured, even with lower efficiency - the cheapest
”Minimum grade medium”?
Digest
Production at a Mega-ton scale？
Alage
Artificial leaves
Power
Hydrogen bacteria
Electrolysis
Minimum grade medium
2020
Bridging methods
Basal medium as a commodity
Mainstream demand for cell-based meat requires large supply of inexpensive amino acids. Novel raw materials and production process (the incumbent is fermentation) must be developed.
Rice
720Mt
Wheat, Barley
830Mt
Corn
880Mt
Cassava, Tubers 630Mt
Soy
260Mt
Sugar beet Canes, 2.1Bt
Oil Palms
Starch※1
40Mt
Sugar
170Mt
Meats 300Mt
(Beef 60Mt, Pork 110Mt, Poultry 80Mt※3)
Bioethanol※2
100BL
Amino acids※4
6Mt
Oil
40Mt
Food
(Carbs)
Cell-based meat
Plant-based protein sources
Process residue
Food
(Fats)
Food
(Carbs)
Figures are as of 2011, Geographic Annals 2014 (Ninomiya Books) ※1https://www.alic.go.jp/joho-d/joho08_000573.html ※2 Monthly Report, MAFF Japan March 2015, http://www.maff.go.jp/j/zyukyu/jki/j_rep/monthly/201503/201503.html ※3 USDA「World Markets and Trade」 ※4 Ajinomoto Co. Ltd.
Food
(Protein)
Food
(Protein)
Source: Mr. Akito Chinen
2nd Cell-Ag Conf. in Japan
Sources of amino acids for cell-based meat
“Matter cycle” of cell-based meat
Convert to culture media
Large-scale cell culture
Waste fluid treatment
Algal production
Algae
sewage
Fertilizer
Culture medium
“Is it tasty?” - Tissue engineering to add value
Sausage/burger
Proven ※although expensive
Low cost large scale cell culture
Sheet meat / “bacon”
Cell scaffold
Muscle/fat coculture
Steak / tissue
Tissue morphogenesis
Vascularization
Meat texture
Regenerative medicine
Where we are
Tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and cellular agriculture
Cell culture�(human)
Cell culture
(animals)
Distribution
Distribution
Regenerative medicine
Cellular agriculture
Med.
Ag.
Procu-rement
Culture medium
Cell-ag and Regen. Medicine share the same technology.
Main differences are in purity, traceability and regulations
Toolbox for cell-based meat
Scaled cheap cell culture
“Molded meat”
Cell paste
Living tissue
Cells are in order
Functions as a living tissue
Cell differentiation
Vascularization
Cell positioning by 3D bioprinting
Cellular scaffolds
in any order
Cell proliferation
Aleph Farms, 2021
Maastricht Uni, 2013
Acquisition of
differentiated cells
Ref: E.A. Specht, D.A. Welch, E.M.R.Clayton et al., https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369703X1830024X
It may be sufficient as long as it is edible, regardless of its viability as a living tissue
Viability as a living tissue
3D culture by cellular scaffolds
Cellular scaffold has large surface area, which improves the efficiency of cell culture.
Sponge collagen scaffolds
Liver cells on scaffolds
Other functions of cellular scaffolds
Edible scaffolds i.e. collagen, chitosan, chitin, arginate, cellu- lose, polysaccharides
Simulate fibre and meat texture
Moulds shape in mm or bigger scales
Aleph Farms (2019)
J.R. Gershlak et al., Biomaterials vol.125, pp13-22(2017) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961217300856?via%3Dihub
3D bioprinting & plant hybrids
3D Bioprinting
Plant-based meat and cellular scaffolds
Cell-based fat and meat
・Simulates texture without constructing as viable live tissue
・Scaling is a WIP
3D printed plant-based meat startups, 2020~
(NovaMeat, Redefine Meat etc.)
adding cultured cells as “inks” for their products
Building “meat” : Method 2
”In Vitro Engineering of Vascularized Tissue Surrogates” https://www.nature.com/articles/srep01316
Culture medium and starter cells
Procurement
Cell growth, vascularization
Tissue growth
※Further down the development timeline
Tissue engineering to and beyond thick steak
Cells on scaffold
around 2020
Cell aggregate
2013
Cultured tissue
2026?
Designer meat?
2030?
Burger, sausage
Bacon, meat chips
Thick steak
Is this even ”meat”!?
Algae-myoblast co-culture
Scaling as it is...
How cultured burger was made in 2013
⇒$260,000
Conventional “scaled” cell culture
Needs much more scale
The process needs a fundamental re-design
Labs, Hospitals
Brewery, Petrochemical complex
Culturing of cells has been optimised for laboratory scale
⇒€250k per burger
Culturing of cells becomes industrial scale
⇒Production at $2/kg
Dr. Marianne Ellis, 2017
Implementation of scaled production methods
⇒”Chemical engineering”, “Plant Engineering”
Integration and systemization
“Cell culture processes suitable for scaling”
How is temperature controlled?
Mixing method?
Pipeline diameter & flow rate?
Sterilization method & frequency?
How are filters cleaned?
Plant engineering - what exactly?
Speculative fish meat culture plant
Production strategy and estimated cost
A：”Batch”
B：”Fed batch”
C：”Perfusion”
A：Produce (culture) cells for ~40 days, harvest once full
B：Produce by feeding the batch until waste metabolites build up
C：Produce while feeding and recycling the culture medium
←Estimated medium cost of cell- based meat based on method C-
$1.37/kg (GFI 2019)
Lipid Nanocarriers for Drug Targeting
https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128136874/lipid-nanocarriers-for-drug-targeting
Comprehensive cost and footprint assessment
・Resource requirement from ‘cradle to the grave’
Life cycle assessment (LCA)
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:LCA.PNG
LCA uncertainties
Current quantitative LCA estimates depend on unestablished production processes and uncertainties may exceed 50%. LCA is expected to be a key point of discussion in international standardization of production processes.
2014 estimate included steam sterilization of bioreactors.
Hanna Tuomisto 2011
Hanna Tuomisto 2014
Animal co-products and “secondary LCA”
Co-product alternatives
By synthetic materials and products[1]
Gelatin production by cell-ag[2]
Source of energy
Without decarbonization of the power source, GHG reduction may be limited.[3]
How is land freed from animal agriculture be used? (Secondary LCA)
The environmental footprint taking into account the alternative land use[4]
[1]https://www.atkearney.com/retail/article/?/a/how-will-cultured-meat-and-meat-alternatives-disrupt-the-agricultural-and-food-industry (AT Kearney)
[2] https://geltor.com/ Geltor Inc. markets cellular agriculture gelatin
[3] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00005/full
Footprint of cultured meat if coal power remains for the next 1000 years
[4]https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B1yPiUX43toZY2sxUUtVRjlZTDA Tuomisto et al. 2017, Int’l Sym. Cultured Meat, (unpublished)
Other products include manure, gelatin etc.
The positive impact
學
經
藝
Science & Technology
・Technological hurdles?
・Medical applications?
Politics & Economics
・Shift in food market?
・Industry landscape?
Arts and Culture
・Religious views?
・Social norms to change?
Hanna Tuomisto 2011
“Protein problem” in different stages
Is there enough protein?
Is it a secure source?
Is it sustain-able?
Many rely on imports while
overfishing continues
( Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland, 2010 https://www.esri.ie/pubs/WP340.pdf)
“Public expenses due to meat is set to reach $1.6T by 2050”
Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return Initiative
Poor conturies
“Impending food crisis”?
”Boiling frog"
・Food prices rise incrementally over decades
・Lower living standards, more frequent civil unrest
How cellular agriculture is a solution
1
2
Reduce protein consumption.
Change the way we eat.
Find sustainable protein source.
Preserve culinary culture.
Meat supply chain
Externalities
“Wicked problem” of climate change, poverty and local ecological losses
Global protein market outlook
Population growth and emerging economies:
$2T market cap. by 2030?
Global meat demand 1980-2030
Rabobank (2011)
■Lamb ■Poultry ■Pork ■Beef
Demand, 10 million tons
By Olivia Fox Cabane, http://newprotein.org
※Also describes investors (VC’s, corporates)
IP info: https://www.culturedabundance.com/about
Startups list: https://futurefoodshow.com/list-of-cultured-meat-companies/
Japan $50B
Seafood $250B
Global meat
$1.9T
Global beef
$0.7T
Market size along the value chain of meat (in billion $)
Source: AT Kearney
Cellular agriculture startups and market size
Product launches
“Brewed milk”, ice cream
Collagen for cosmetics
2019
2020
Chicken nuggets
Shrimp
Cosmetics, foie gras etc.
https://integriculture.jp https://www.slideshare.net/YukiHanyu/ss-166477453
Chicken
Beef steak
2021
Duck,
poultry, beef etc.
https://www.livekindly.co/memphis-meats-bring-clean-duck-chicken-meat-stores-2021/
2022
Bioreactor systems
Blue fin tuna etc.
Product Launch dates?（MosaMeat https://www.mosameat.com/faq ）
“We are aiming for a first market introduction in the next few years. It is very difficult to commit to a particular timeframe because there are still some scientific unknowns and factors outside our control (such as the regulatory process). The first introduction will likely be small-scale. Several years beyond that, we aim to be widely available in restaurants and supermarkets.”
Cell-ag market predictions (By A.T.Kearney)
・⅓ becomes meat alternatives by 2030.
・Plant-based meat in 2035 reaches maturity.
・CAGR 40% is expected for cell-based meat.
・The shift will also affect surrounding sectors i.e. retail and distribution.
The road ahead in protein transformation
Improving technology reduces the amount of capital for market entry. Individuals enter and technology democratizes.
Hype crash and cycle
Reaches price parity with animal meat
Conversion by regions and product categories
Vertical integration with large plants
2020～
2030～
Animal meat
Cell-based meat
Price
Time
Foie gras
Beef
Chicken
Importer
Half-producer
Producer
“Adjacent industries”
Entry from nearby fields
Beverage companies
Food companies
Medical supply manufacturer
Plant engine- ering firms
Effect to nearby fields
Functional & pharmaceutical foods
Food branding
Biomanufacturing
Regen. medicine
Indoor farms
Cell-based meat industry mind map
Good Food Institute (2016)
Non-profits
USA
Israel
USA
Japan
USA
・Plant-based and cell-based meat advocacy group founded by New Crop Capital that promotes cell-ag from the industry side.
・GFI has branches in global locations to act on governments.
・Headquartered in Washington DC
・Funded by crowdfunding
・Promotes open-source DIY cellular agriculture
・Spun off IntegriCulture Inc. and CAIC
Founded by university students, aims to connect academia and industry
・Originally animal welfare centered group
・Spun off SuperMeat and FM Technologies
etc.
・Donor-funded 501(c)(3) that coined the term “cellular agriculture” in 2015
・Supports its academic research and one of the key advisors to FDA
Spin-off
Cell-Ag Inst. of the Commons
Academic and policy advisory and public communication
※Still in preparation on 2020.01
Lobbying
etc.
Grants
Notable conferences
Alternative protein and cell-ag sessions are also common in ”Food Tech” events, i.e. Smart Kitchen Summit (Seattle) and Agri-Food Innovation Week (Singapore)
~Sept. in San Francisco by GFI, More industry oriented, on both plant-based and cell-based meat
~July in Boston by New Harvest, Academics and biohackers
~Nov. in San Francisco, cell-ag specialized industry event
~Feb. in San Francisco, Industry meeting by Hanson Wade(UK)
Academic researches
Supports New Harvest
Japan Science and Technology Agency “JST-Mirai” program (government grant), ~$20M for FY2018-2023
https://www.jst.go.jp/mirai/jp/uploads/application-guideline-h30-en.pdf
While startups raise large amounts, Dolgin points out on a Nature article the relative lack of basic research in cell-ag https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00373-w
$3M grant program (2018~)
2019~ entrants from other fields
Past (2015~) research projects
https://www.new-harvest.org/past_research_projects
Latest research grants
EU(2020):�€2.7M grant to Meat4All consortium as a part of Horizon2020
US(2020):�$3.5M 5year grant from NSF to a team at UC Davis
Government & regulatory moves (mid-2020)
Joint regulation by USDA and FDA was announced in 2019/03.
Product-by-product approvals are expected and the FDA requests early consultations
(EU)2015/2283 sets cell-ag products as novel food and applications are handled by the European Commission & EFSA.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32015R2283
A high-rank official in People's Political Consultative Conference mentions cell-ag as a national priority, but no substantial moves to date. Shifts in government priorities may change the pace overnight.
The pre-existing rules tacitly approves cellular agriculture products.
Ongoing rulemaking conversations (Foodtech Study Group) initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Fishery in 2020
Moves by other countries in Asia: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/michalklar/issues/future-food-now-13-cell-based-meat-in-asia-pacific-294408
The novel food regulations in each state tacitly covers cell-ag products.
No substantial actions are taken beyond requirement for proof of safety as written in the pre-existing rules
The Good Food Institute is lobbying governments to set regulations for cell-based meat
Cellular agriculture as a strategic priority
10% self-sufficiency
The territory is heavily urban and food is mostly imported.
Risk of “water war”
Military tension over critical agricultural resources
The government sets “Singapore Food Story” to raise the food self-sufficiency (10%->30%) and establishes Singapore Food Agency to regulate food tech products.
A government-backed food tech incubator, public interest in meat alternatives and active startup scenes gave rise to multiple startup efforts. In 2020, Prime Minister tastes a sample after the government finds strategic importance in the technology.
Singapore Food Story revealed
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/new-government-strategy-will-drive-food-innovation
�SFA starts discussions
�Alternative protein startup manual for Singapore�https://www.gfi-apac.org/resources/singapore-startup-manual/
→Followed by a regulatory progress?
Inclusive rulemaking on cellular agriculture (Japan)
Foodtech Study Group 2020.04～
Inherits cell-ag working group
Japan Assoc. for Cell-Ag
2019.07～
・Comprehensive discussions to assist food tech industry growth
・More than 300 participants from various sectors including traditional industry -
Interim report: https://www.maff.go.jp/j/press/kanbo/kihyo01/200731.html
Other working groups i.e. insects
Policy advice
2021.04?
Food companies
Farmers
Cell-ag startups
Academics
Policy makers
General public
Additional Potential stakeholders
Ideally, No one left behind in “cell-ag revolution”
Cell licensing by farmers?
Collaborations between startups and big food?
How do we reflect consumer voices to product R&D?
etc...
Nomenclature
”Cultivated meat”
(used to claim “clean meat”)
https://www.gfi.org/how-we-talk-about-meat-grown-without-animals
cultured meat, also acknowledges “cell-based meat”)
Officially “cell-cultured meat”, but also acknowledges the industry nomenclature of cell-based meat
純粋培養肉(純肉)、(細胞)培養肉
・How do general consumers perceive？
・Is it a neutral name?
・Does it comply with food labeling law?
Good Food Institute(2017)
（Japanese）
Regulations and cellular agriculture products
A food product must be manufactured from food and (approved) food additives under proper process control. A “food” must have history of consumption (⇔ “Novel food”). There is a list for (FDA, in case of USA) approved food additives.
cell-based meat
Growth factors
Could have a GRAS status
Requires safety tests and approval if used.
Sugar
Amino acids
Vitamins
Minerals etc.
(Food & additives)
Basal media
Basal media
Process control:
HACCP& GMP
Could use sports drink
Where are the risks?
BSE prions?
Cells mix-ups?
Viral contamination?
Is it GMO？
Are growth factors safe?
What’s in the medium?
Bacterial contamination?
Cancerous cells?
Safety of cell metabolites?
Will it be labelled?
Unexpected health risk from “too clean meat”?
Is meat healthy?
Points of considerations & solutions?
Use of primary cells or cell line cells?
Viral DNA can be monitored real-time in near future?
Can be avoided by cell acquisition from prion-free parts?
Use of cell sorter may separate by each cell types
Existing food regulations can evaluate the food safety of growth factors?
Use of methods that does not require external addition of growth factors?
Use of known medium? Prompt reporting of any changes made to medium? https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/life-science/cell-culture/learning-center/media-formulations/dme.html
Would require contamination detection mechanism for quality assurance
“Substantial equivalence” - how do the amount of abnormal or cancerous cells compare to existing meat?
How should it be labeled? “Beef(cell-based)” ?
Long-term safety - how do cell-based meat differ from conventional?
Is meat consumption healthy - regardless of traditional or cell-based?
Who will regulate meat? (And what is “meat”?)
USCA and other unions petition against “meat” label for plant and cell-based claiming that such labels deceive consumers
State of Missouri responds & legislates a state law, 25 states follow (end 2019)
Cell-ag startups set up a “trade union” AMPS Innovation for lobbying purpose
Influence from animal rights movements
Differences in the tones of social communication
Lobby for plant-based and cell-based meats
Legal action claiming that such law is Unconstitutional
Lobbying over food labels to distinguish traditional meat
Active disclosures and lobbying to establish safety of cell-ag products
etc.
Publicity from each positions
Safety and labelling standards - WIP
USDA
USDA/FDA[1] agreement (2019)
FDA
FDA
USDA
Labelling
[1]While most food is under the jurisdiction of FDA, “meat and poultry” are under USDA.
Regulations on cell-based poultry (SG, 2020)
・Used to approve food based on the regulatory status of the product in the country of origin, before SFA (estab.2018)
・SFA is working to define “Novel Food”, and cell-ag products under “novel food” are required premarket approvals.
・Evaluates seed cell traceability, genomic stability and residual growth factors for cellular agriculture products
・Requires to label the product being “cell-cultured”
Labelling
USDA/FDA positions(2020)
・Aims to ensure food safety while fostering industry innovation
・Process-based regulations than prescriptive requirements, possibly except for the levels of residual growth factors.
・Urges industry players to start early pre-market consultation, noting that the technology is still nascent.
Cell extraction
Cell culture
Tissue harvest
Consumer products
Cell source
The positive impact
學
經
藝
Science & Technology
・Technological hurdles?
・Medical applications?
Politics & Economics
・Shift in food market?
・Industry landscape?
Arts and Culture
・Religious views?
・Social norms to change?
Hanna Tuomisto 2011
Socio-cultural implications
Would vegetarians eat?
Is it Halal?
Goes with Buddhist “nonviolence”?
Animal welfare?
Consumer acceptance?
At the end, is it tasty?
Regional differences in agenda
B. Food security
C. Food safety
D. Env. footprint
EU/US： A~D > C > B
E.Asia： B~C > D > A
Western vegetarianism
・Vegetarians
・Pescetarians
・Vegans are the most common
3~10% of the population
Practical ethics: “Utilitarianism”
“Decision should be made to maximize utility”
Utility = happiness x number of sentient beings
“Only 1 death is better than 5”...?
May be so in very short term, but...
If “killing for public good” becomes the norm, no one is there to stop dictators
→ Is the utility maximized, in the long run?
Utilitarian decision making is strongly dependent on subject and timeline
“Runaway trolley problem”
As it is, 5 will die. If you switch, only 1 will. Will you do it?
Animal welfare as deductions from utilitarianism
◆Animals are capable of feeling happiness and thus sentient.
◆All sentient beings count.
◆”Species” as defined by biology is irrelevant in ethical decisions.
⇒From a utilitarian point-of-view,
“making sentient beings suffer is unethical”
Acknowledges health and environment, but mainly animal welfare and ethical
“Animal welfare” based on utilitarianism
Reason for being a vegetarian
Vegetarian Society
East Asian vegetarianism
”Religion”←Not utilitarianism or other ethics
Ethical value of clean meat described by utilitarianism don’t directly translate into East Asian religious (i.e. Buddhist) importance.
“Shojin ryori” Buddhist cuisine
Cuisine for for zen practitioners
Common name for “Buddhist cuisine”
All aspects must serve the purpose of zen.
-NO FOOD WASTE
-Use local produce to avoid food waste
-No cruelty (avoid fish and meat)
-Avoid ingredients that stimulate desires i.e. onions
-All donated food (incl. meat) must be consumed
-Cooking is also a part of zen practice
※contested
Known as “zhai cai” (齋菜) in Chinese
Would “murderless meat” help Zen?
”Would cell-based meat serve the purpose of Zen?”
・Overcoming personal desires is a major theme in zen
・”Desire” includes meat apetite
・”Fake meat” is a compromise, but compromise is permissible
・Cell-based meat fits in the same category as tofu - meat imitations.
Cell-based meat being “murderless” does not make it Zen - there are multiple more important criteria.
“Shojin” means “devotion to the righteous path”
Shojinmeat Project will stay committed to the path that obsoletes unsustainable meat
Meat in historical Japan
Before 7th century：
Eating meat was common. People just had to eat whatever was in hand.
675c. Imperial decree of “No Killing (of animals)”
To direct labour force to rice production and put a stop to local animal-sacrifice rituals & reinforce imperial authority
※Newly arrived Buddhism was used as justification
Meat avoidance continues till 19th c. and commoners only started eating meat around 1900 c.
・Totals half billion? Region-specific
・More common among upper castes
・Some upper caste members fund cultured meat research
・Hinduism doesn’t explicitly forbid meat but adherents choose to avoid meat.
Mr. Modi (Indian PM as of 2017) is a vegetarian.
Vegetarianism in India
Is it Halal?
“The halal cultured meat can be obtained if the stem cell is extracted from a (Halal) slaughtered animal, and no blood or serum is used in the process.”
J Relig Health. 2018 Dec;57(6):2193-2206.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10943-017-0403-3
“As long as the cells used are not from pigs, dogs or other animals banned under the halal laws, the meat would be vegetative and "similar to yogurt and fermented pickles."
Abdul Qahir Qamar, The International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Jeddha, Saudi Arabia
“Work in progress, and being settled”
Halal authentication by JAKIM (backed by the Malaysian government) is widely acknowledged.
“It is Halal” may become the single decisive purchase reason in Islamic sphere.
Potential future shift in ethical landscape
Then what if on 2040, meat alternatives rise to 30% market share and ever more people stop consuming conventional meat?
・Uncontrollable ”hate campaign” against traditional farmers?
・Trade ban of conventional meat due to animal cruelty?
Why are animal experimentation, Japanese whaling and Chinese cat/ dog consumption is problematised far more than factory farming?
⇒Because they are “remote things” for the protesters.
Ethical issues due to technological immaturity
(Transient) issues upon R&D：
・FBS production is not cruelty-free
“Unavoidable” issue：
・Extraction of cells
Likely to be solved in the future
May pose an issue during R&D
Can bovine foetus feel pain?
It may still inflict some pain.
Will animals still be chained?
Genetic selection of animals for the sake of “tasty” - is it eugenics?
Changing perceptions of “meat”?
Gen. 1
chooses cell-based meat due to animal welfare and footprint. Some start choosing by price and taste.
Gen. 2
consumes cheap cell based meat on daily basis and feel repulsive against conventional meat.
Livestocks are for food, pets are not, wild animals may be hunted for food
30yrs
Gen. 3?
feel uneasy on protein food nomenclatures or appearances that reminds of specific living things.
30yrs
Animals are for pets or labor. Slaughter is barbaric.
“Meat appearance reminds me of pain, wound and death”
Sentiments similar to cell-based human meat today?
“It is just not a food for all, regardless of how it’s made!”
More protein food brands without animal associations i.e. “Quorn”?
Ethical issues of “captive carnivore”
Wild animals exist outside human control and no ethical questions are raised against humans.
However, captive carnivores as pets and zoo animals are under human control → ethical questions
?? Is it ethical to let carnivores to prey on others??
Future court case: “Patent or Life (of animals)”
・Can rich countries with cell-based meat production technology blame (poor) emerging countries for animal abuse?
・Court cases over “economic incentives (patent) vs. animal suffering”
Case study: Generic HIV drug lawsuit:
An Indian pharmaceutical company allegedly infringed retroviral drug patent to manufacture generic HIV drugs, because the original drugs by Western pharmaceutical companies were too expensive for people in poor African countries.
After high-profile court-martials, the Indian company won the case on humanitarian basis.
Consumer acceptance
Chris Bryant (2017)
3rd Intl’ Conf. for Cultured Meat
Large variations exist between different marketing research attempts and speculations, mainly due to the lack of actual clean meat products on market.
←Factors consumers weigh
Consumer acceptance research result→
What would a corporate monopoly do?
Technological details were concealed as “trade secret”, drawing widespread accusation and allegations of “technology for corporate profit than social good”
Science may have proved the safety of GMO, but failed to convince the public to feel safe.
Cell-cultured meat: Lessons from GMO adoption and resistance
(Review paper)
Cellular agriculture ecosystem
Advocacy, Academic research with universities
DIY bio, speculative art projects, “avant-garde” advocacy
Sponsor
Research and project grants
Commercialization,
Production technology development
Individual biohackers in communities such as
Shojinmeat Project as citizen science
Citizen Science
Non-Profit
Advocacy, Academic research with universities
DIY bio, speculative art projects, “avant-garde” advocacy
Sponsor
Research and project grants
Spin-off Startup
Commercialization,
Production technology development
Cellular agriculture with initiatives on citizens
How to make ⇒ Open
How to scale ⇒ Proprietary
Number in demand
Degree of personalization
Product dev.
Citizen Science domain
Business domain
and other businesses to come
Transparency
in technology
Citizens are the decision makers
Academia hints the way
Citizens act and set the direction
Businesses scale and deliver
Wilsdon, James and Willis, Rebecca, why public engagement needs to move upstream (2004), Demos, London.
“Growing meat at home”
=DIY bio methodology=
Konjac cell scaffold
Cells from fertilized eggs
Egg white as antimycotic
Egg yolk as FBS
⇒DIY cell culture in kitchen
High schooler on DIY cultured meat experiment, TV news
Airtight box
CO2 source
humidity source
dish
DIY cell culture manuals (mostly translated)
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13TsVy0JrSxFl4ZoYe6D_uPfDYr3d2P5e
Development of DIY bio equipments
DIY incubator
Temperature can be set to ~40℃ by reducing the AC input voltage of a towel warmer from ~100V to 30V.
The blueprint of DIY incubator is on GitHub. Both are at ~$100.
by @okgw_
Household fan centrifuge (~100G at ~1000rpm)
Egg white antimycotic and DIY clean bench
(@earthlyworld
Development of DIY cell culture protocols
Materials and methods are uploaded on blogs, video sharing sites, GitHub etc. for other participants to confirm reproducibility.
Creative Cells Kyoto reproduces sports drink culture medium experiment
Ms. Sugisaki - consultant by the day, biohacker at home (aired on TV)
Demonstration video online
Development of home and school cell culture kit
Pre-survey to high school teachers
School cell culture kit should be
at <$300
DIY cell culture hardwares and protocols deployed in a class
Less than $100 for a class of 20
-At what budget?
-Cell culture in school classes?
(9 respondents)
◆<$300
◆<$500
◆<$1000
◆<$3000
◆<$5000
◆Yes
◆No
◆
◆
◆
Yes, as an extra-
curricular activity
Yes, if there is time
Depends on budget
@thesow41
(towel warmer)
(DIY protocols)
DIY cell culture and future
Other cell types?
Coculture system, better DIY serum?
Cell scaffold, DIY tissue engineering
….etc.
What’s next?
DIY cell culture experiments
Materials and methods on blogs and online videos
Cell culture kit
Results are shared, other participants also reproduce results
Cell culture protocols
Cell passage protocols, cell library
Why stop at meat? DIY tissue engineering?
Tastier than meat
DIY kidney!
DIY differentiation & morphogenesis to make heart
Is this even “meat”!?
“Green meat” algae- meat composite food
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5282507/
・Bioreactors improve over time, enabling cell, tissue & organ culture
・DIY tissue engineering is ubiquitous, innovative prototypes everywhere
Local farmers design their own meat brands
・Local farmers, butchers and chefs can develop their own cell-based meat recipe.
・Brand ownership opportunity opens up for local farmers.
・Hobbyists come up with unique meat recipe.
Fewer cows
Bioreactors in the backyard
Many cows
Cows are the product
Cell or meat is the product
Traditional farmscape
Cell-ag farmscape
The Cell-Ag Farmscape
Fewer cows mean less cleaning, feeding, waste treatment
More facility management and cell culture protocol dev., as in brewery
Business models of meat in cell-ag era
Fabless farmers
Contract farmer
Lend cows
Meat brewery
Sends cells
Sells meat
Fabless farmer
Farmers
Cell licensing
Cell bank
Sends cells
Food companies
Sells meat
Shared recipe
Recipe website
Warehouse
People
cell culture protocols
Domestic culture vat
Down-�load
Farmers
Stores cells
Sends cells
Cell-Ag Firms
People
Cell-ag firm
“New farmer”
People
Sells meat
Food companies
Meat brewery
Sells
cells
Celebrity Star Cow branded beef
The cell source Star Cow is alive
Scan the QR code printed on package
Watch the Star Cow
Myoblast grown at 200t scale
Looks like a beer factory?
Future: Meat brewery
Steak brewery
Single use culture bags⇒
Steak grows inside⇒
Ready to ship⇒
Seafood by cellular agriculture
Cell culture at room temperature
Small ponds as cell source
Culture media produced by microalgae
Short food miles
Farm high-rise
Cell-ag towers
Farmscape, A.D.2203
Vertical farms
Vast land reverted to nature
Artificial photosynthesis
Cellular agriculture manu- facturing industry complex
Martian food production facility
Orbital Zero-G Farm
Creative support for artists
“I deal with Ideal Meal” by Yamada Theta
https://twitter.com/yamada_theta�https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=66586574
https://note.mu/yamada_theta/n/n243f40556409
《Schroedinger’s Tiger》 by Michi Okada
Miyo-san
”Myosin”
age.20・164cm
Chemical engineering student intern at Mars Huygens Crater cellular agriculture facility.
Aco-chan
”Actin”
age.13・149cm
Helps elder sister Miyo in her extracurricular activity at Mars Colonists Middle School.
Miyo & Aco
Miyo-san (Chibi)
Aco-chan (Chibi)
Visual novel source files
Source files
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B0ShPzNziL05THlwU2IwTTNueHM
(Feel free to produce alternative scenarios, derivative works, add characters, etc. under CC-BY-NC license.)
“Miyo-san” and “Aco-chan” whole body and face PNG images and sci-fi themed background images available for manga and VN’s.
Miyo
Aco
Perhaps, someday in the future on Mars….
Zine's (DIY cell culture manuals)
Distributed at Comic Market, COMITIA, TechBookFest, etc. Also available from MelonBooks
Sold out
Online materials (slideshare)
Members participate in their respective expertise (experiments, gatherings, art projects etc.) - no defined “membership”
#Food Security
#Food Miles
#Regulations
#Cooking
#Culture & thoughts
#History
#Food safety
#Life ethics
#Animal welfare
#Regenerative medicine
#Tissue engineering
#Bioreactor
#Culture medium
#Commercialization
#LCA
#R&D
#Soc.&Econ.
#Global collab.
#Space
#Art
Shojinmeat Project “Distributed Clusters”
All welcome:
Please join from Shojinmeat Project English Slack Channel
Some past questions (part 1)
Q: I would like to participate
A: There is no formal definition of membership. Please Tweet to us or join slack channel.
Q: I’m not a biologist but would like to join�A: All disciplines welcome - multiple journalism, art & other non-sci/tech projects are ongoing
Q: Where are carbon and nitrogen sourced?�A: Culture medium contains sugar and amino acids. Amino acid is sourced from yeast which feed on sugar. In future, artificial photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation may take this role.
Q: Is fungal farming cellular agriculture?
A: Depends on if cell culture procedure is involved in the process. Cultivation of entire fungal body would be conventional farming.
Q: Is cell-based meat GMO?
A: Gene editigin is not required for cell culture. In future, “designer meat” such as “allergen-free meat” may require gene editing.
Q: Is it tasty?
A: It’s pasty (for now). In future, advanced tissue engineering may enable complete reconstruction of meat taste and texture and even go beyond.
Q: How quickly would “meat” grow?
A: Cells multiply every 1½~2 days. 1E5 cells grow to visible size in 20~30 days. Flow process in factories may enable continuous production.
Q: What will happen to farm animals?
A: They don’t disappear as starter cells would still be required, but their number may decline.
Some past questions (part 2)
Q: Could meat be cocultured with probiotics?
A: Unknown. It depends on their growth rates and mutual effect of cell metabolites.
Q: Why would people eat cell-based meat?
A: Initially, vegans and environmentally-conscious would consume, but at the end, taste, price and convenience would decide.
Q: My kids should try DIY cell culture
A: Hardware and methods are open for public. Please contact us for details.
Q: Desktop clean bench may help?
A: Egg white can suppress mould growth, but a clean bench always help.
Q: What will happen to farmers?
A: Farmers may gain an opportunity to build a brand around his/her cow cell and meat culture recipe, but it depends on what business model cellular agriculture companies take in the future.
Q: Is cell-based meat Halal/Kosher?
A: It may potentially become Halal/Kosher under certain conditions, according to a publication: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28456853
Q: Is it vegan?
A: Depends on technological maturity. Our DIY procedure uses egg white as antimycotic and therefore not vegan. In future, it depends on the exact procedure of cell acquisition.
References for common facts
More than 80% of arable land, or 20% of Earth’s land surface is used for meat production. It is also responsible for 18% of total greenhouse gas emissions.
“Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers” Poore, Nemecek, Science 2018 http://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987
More than 80% of arable land is used for meat in some ways.
FAO www.fao.org/animal-production/en/
20~30% of all freshwater is used for farm animals
“The water footprint of humanity”, Hoekstra, Mekonnen, PNAS 2012, http://www.pnas.org/content/109/9/3232
Energy and protein feed-to-food conversion efficiency is 3% and 4% respectively.
“Energy and protein feed-to-food conversion efficiencies in the US and potential food security gains from dietary changes”, Shepon, Eschel et al, IOP Science 2016
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/10/105002/meta
1kg of beef requires 25kg of feed and 15000L of freshwater
Hoekstra, Mekonnen, UNESCO IHE 2010 “The green, blue and grey water footprint of farm animals and animal products” http://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Report-48-WaterFootprint-AnimalProducts-Vol1.pdf
90％ of soybean and 40% of crops are consumed as feed
How to feed the world 2050 High-level expert forum, Rome 12-13 Oct.2009
http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/wsfs/docs/Issues_papers/HLEF2050_Global_Agriculture.pdf
World’s feed can support 3.5B people if consumed as food.
1kg of beef requires 12~24kg of feed.
“Redefining agricultural yields: from tonnes to people nourished per hectare”, Cassidy, West e tal, IOP Science, Environmental Research Letters, 2013, http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/034015/meta
1kg of poultry requires 2~4kg of feed
Meat or wheat for the next millennium? Alternative futures for world cereal and meat consumption
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ae0c/a5b5556e57a2c4cf904b218d0edbac2c32d9.pdf
80% of antibiotics are used in farm animals.
“The antibiotic resistance crisis: part 1: causes and threats.”, Ventola, NCBI 2015, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4378521/
Organic farming requires larger land area per unit yield.
“Is organic really better for the environment than conventional agriculture?”, Ritchie, OWID 2017, https://ourworldindata.org/is-organic-agriculture-better-for-the-environment
Contacts for businesses
“Shojinmeat Project” is a citizen science community.
Please contact IntegriCulture Inc. for industry & business collaboration.
Please contact CAIC for market information & industry consultation.
And welcome to the Shojinmeat Project to passionate individuals!
Get involved in cellular agriculture!
DIY Bio, Make. , public communication
@shojinmeat
Join Shojinmeat English Slack channel
Acknowledgements
All Shojinmeat Project participants!
Patrons at Campfire Crowdfunding