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A scoping review of cultivated meat techno-economic analyses to inform future research directions for scaled-up manufacturing

Nature Food volume 5, pages 901–910 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Techno-economic analyses offer insights into how industrial cultivated meat (CM) production could achieve price parity with conventional meat. These analyses use scaling practices, data and facility designs for related bioprocessing fields, including large (≥20,000 l) stirred tank bioreactors and suspension-tolerant, continuously available cell lines. This approach is inconsistent with most primary CM literature, which parallels bench-scale tissue engineering. TEAs published to date demonstrate that, under the current technological paradigm, CM is unlikely to be competitive with conventional meat. Scale-up feasibility may hinge on cost-saving areas such as use of plant-based media components, food-grade aseptic conditions and extensive scaling of related supply chains. Research must address knowledge gaps including serum-free differentiation, new bioreactor designs and facility design before CM can become a viable alternative to animal-based meat production.

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Fig. 1: Schematic overview of scaled CM production informed by TEAs.
Fig. 2: Relevance of current research directions found in primary CM literature informed by CM TEAs.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the Bezos Earth Fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Corbin M. Goodwin & Rohan A. Shirwaiker

  2. Bezos Center for Sustainable Protein, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Corbin M. Goodwin, William R. Aimutis & Rohan A. Shirwaiker

  3. North Carolina Food Innovation Lab, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, NC, USA

    William R. Aimutis

  4. Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, North Carolina State University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Rohan A. Shirwaiker

  5. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Rohan A. Shirwaiker

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  1. Corbin M. Goodwin
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Goodwin, C.M., Aimutis, W.R. & Shirwaiker, R.A. A scoping review of cultivated meat techno-economic analyses to inform future research directions for scaled-up manufacturing. Nat Food 5, 901–910 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-01061-3

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