Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #cultivatedmeat
Most recents (8)
I’ve had my #Sunday #coffee so let’s address this q about environmental impact of #cultivatedmeat. Skeptics’ arguments are based on 2 flawed assumptions: cell food will be pharma grade & large-scale plants that don’t exist yet(!) will be powered by non-renewable energy…
Commercial #cultivatedmeat will be more sustainable, efficient & healthier for the planet. Why? We won’t raise & slaughter billions of animals or use 1/3 of the world’s ice-free land to grow food for them. But this vision depends on several factors. Read: goodmeat.co/faq
News outlets like @newscientist should be embarrassed after covering a recent non-peer-reviewed & frankly fictional assessment of the industry. Until we scale up, it’s all based on hypotheticals about future production. Hold off on the criticism & give us the time to grow…
Didn't have time to read the 150 pages of new information associated with @GOODMeat's FDA pre-market consultation for cultivated chicken?
Key info in this thread.
npr.org/sections/healt…
Key info in this thread.
npr.org/sections/healt…
Let's start with the conclusion. The FDA states, "foods comprised of, or containing, cultured chicken cell material resulting from the production process defined in CCC 000001 are as safe as comparable foods produced by other methods."
So how is it made?
So how is it made?
Cells: The cells used for production are a publicly available cell line known as DF-1, which has been in the ATCC cell bank since 1996. The cell line is a chicken fibroblast line obtained from 10 day old embryonic chicken tissue.
This was unexpected!
This was unexpected!
Some thoughts on (1) whether immortalized cells for #cultivatedmeat production should be compared to eating cancer (2) whether consuming them would give you cancer & (3) whether long-term studies are needed to ensure the safety of cultivated meat...
bloomberg.com/news/features/…
bloomberg.com/news/features/…
(1) The article says immortalized cells are precancerous or in some cases cancerous
There are 6 hallmarks of cancer, immortality is 1 of them. Having 1 feature of a complex phenotype doesn't mean it is that type.
You can't equate immortality to cancer.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hallm…
There are 6 hallmarks of cancer, immortality is 1 of them. Having 1 feature of a complex phenotype doesn't mean it is that type.
You can't equate immortality to cancer.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hallm…
(1) Thus, while all cancers are immortalized, not all immortalized cells are cancer. Sorta like how not all rectangles are squares.
To become cancer, a transformation involving the loss of control in various aspects of cell growth & regulation is one event that occurs.
To become cancer, a transformation involving the loss of control in various aspects of cell growth & regulation is one event that occurs.
The most comprehensive study to date of #cultivatedmeat production was just published, led by scientists from @believermeats
Much of the data in this paper will likely make up their safety dossier for regulatory approval in the US
What did we learn? 👇
nature.com/articles/s4301…
Much of the data in this paper will likely make up their safety dossier for regulatory approval in the US
What did we learn? 👇
nature.com/articles/s4301…
For context, @believermeats is the 2nd most capitalized #cultivatedmeat company, having raised nearly $400M to date
They recently broke ground on a large production facility in N. Carolina
They recently broke ground on a large production facility in N. Carolina
Cell lines: The company isolated fibroblasts from fertilized chicken embryos from 2 breeds (broiler Ross 308 and Israeli Baladi chickens).
Over time, the fibroblasts spontaneously immortalized, w/ stabilized doubling times of ~20 hrs.
Over time, the fibroblasts spontaneously immortalized, w/ stabilized doubling times of ~20 hrs.
It's been almost 2 weeks since the historic announcement of FDA's green light for cultivated chicken from @upsidefoods. This coincided with over 100 pages of new information related to the production and safety of #cultivatedmeat.
So what did we learn?
nytimes.com/2022/11/17/cli…
So what did we learn?
nytimes.com/2022/11/17/cli…
Let's start w/ the conclusion. The FDA "did not identify any properties of the cells as described that would render them different from other animal cells w/ respect to safety for food use."
Cells are cells, whether grown inside or outside the animal
Here's what was evaluated:
Cells are cells, whether grown inside or outside the animal
Here's what was evaluated:
Cells: 2 cell lines were used. Myoblasts acquired from an adult chicken & fibroblasts acquired from a mid-stage fertilized egg.
The myoblast line was spontaneously immortalized. The fibroblast line was immortalized through genetic engineering (more on that later)
The myoblast line was spontaneously immortalized. The fibroblast line was immortalized through genetic engineering (more on that later)
I think there's some confusion around a lack of #cultivatedmeat (CM)-relevant cell lines & the role of private industry vs. public funds in alleviating this issue. Conversation on this topic spurred by this recent article & below:
theguardian.com/science/2021/j…
theguardian.com/science/2021/j…
Private industry has pioneered CM & brought concept to reality in <6 years. This has spurred investments into industry, which may be >$1B total by year end. This is good. We don't have time to waste in developing CM. We need urgency & investment to be matched by the public sector
Private industry success has driven academics & students toward CM. But they have few places to go to for funding. GFI's research grants program awards $ millions of grants each year, but we reject a growing # of great proposals each year (not enough $)
gfi.org/researchgrants/
gfi.org/researchgrants/
Love #bacon but not jazzed about how it's made, especially after all the news of slaughterhouse workers getting sick, shuttering the facilities, and gassing or overheating pigs to "depopulate" them as a result?
Good news: the future of bacon is on its way. 2 examples below.
Good news: the future of bacon is on its way. 2 examples below.
First, a new entrant to the #plantbased #bacon scene: @EatHoorayFoods will be launching soon in retail. This product category desperately needed new plant-based #innovation — thrilled to see this launch.
foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2020/0…
foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2020/0…
Second, #cultivatedmeat startup @MissionBarns just posted this photo of their #bacon prototype, grown directly from animal cells rather than obtained from animal slaughter.
The #futureoffood can't come soon enough.
The #futureoffood can't come soon enough.
#Covid19 is among the most serious challenges humanity has ever faced, and enormous work lies ahead of us to get this outbreak under control. But in parallel, we need to innovate ourselves out of the systems that create entirely foreseeable & unacceptable public health risks. 1/n
That’s what I’ve dedicated my career to at @goodfoodinst: supporting the development of #plantbased meat and #cultivatedmeat so that we can wean ourselves off of industrial animal agriculture and all of its attendant public health and environmental hazards. 2/n
Both farmed domestic animals and caged wild animals create the perfect breeding ground for zoonotic diseases, which leap from livestock or wildlife to humans that have close contact with live animals and their infected tissues and fluids – namely, hunters and slaughterers. 3/n
