I. Concept of cultured meat
Cultured meat is a meat product produced with the help of in vitro cell culture technology. The core principle is to extract a small number of stem cells with strong proliferation and differentiation potential from animals, then place these cells in a bioreactor that simulates the physiological environment in vivo, induce cell proliferation, differentiation and form muscle tissue by providing nutrient supply and signal regulation, and finally obtain products that are highly similar to traditional meat in composition, taste and nutritional value.
II. Development of cultured meat
Figure 1. Development of cultured meat
III. Advantages of cultured meat compared to traditional meat
As an innovative food production method to subvert traditional animal husbandry, culture meat has its advantages in multiple dimensions.
Environmental protection: Traditional animal husbandry is one of the main sources of global greenhouse gas emissions, while consuming large amounts of land and water resources. Cultured meat, produced with precision in bioreactors, reduces land use by over 90%, lowers energy consumption by approximately 30-50%, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by around 85%.
Animal welfare: Cultured meat fundamentally alters the traditional model of "mass-farming and slaughtering animals for meat". Its production requires only a small number of seed cells from animals, eliminating the need to raise vast herds and avoiding the suffering animals endure during slaughter.
Food safety: Conventional meat production faces challenges such as antibiotic abuse, pathogen contamination (e.g., bacteria, viruses, parasites), and high disease transmission risks. Outbreaks like mad cow disease and avian influenza have posed serious threats to meat safety. In contrast, cultured meat is produced entirely in sterile, controlled laboratory environments. The composition of the culture medium is precisely defined, and the production process can be monitored and regulated in real time, effectively mitigating these safety concerns and offering consumers a safer meat alternative.
Nutritional customization: By regulating nutrient supply and signaling molecules during cell culture, the nutritional composition of the product can be precisely tailored. For example, it is possible to produce low-fat, high-protein meat or products enriched with specific functional components like Omega-3 fatty acids. This meets the personalized dietary needs of different populations for healthy eating and offers a new avenue for improving public nutritional profiles.
IV. Production of cultured meat
The production of cultured meat primarily involves four steps:
1. Acquisition of seed cells: Utilizing various proteases such as collagenase, trypsin, and separase to obtain seed cells with differentiation potential from animal tissues, including muscle stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, fibroblasts and so on.
2. Mass proliferation of seed cells: The acquired seed cells undergo large-scale proliferation in bioreactors to achieve sufficient quantities. Cells are inoculated into culture media containing nutrients like glucose, amino acids, and vitamins, while environmental conditions including temperature (approximately 37°C), pH (slightly acidic), oxygen, and carbon dioxide levels (typically 5% CO₂) are precisely controlled. During this process, adding recombinant cytokines (such as insulin-like growth factor) accelerates cell division, rapidly increasing cell numbers to billions or even tens of billions. This provides ample "raw materials" for subsequent tissue formation.
3. Differentiation of seed cells: Once cell numbers reach the threshold, they must be induced to differentiate into specific cell types such as muscle cells or adipocytes and form three-dimensional tissue structures. By regulating the types and concentrations of cytokines, cells are induced to differentiate into mature muscle cells. Simultaneously, scaffold materials or bioprinting techniques enable cells to arrange and fuse in an orderly manner within three-dimensional space, gradually forming tissue blocks with natural muscle texture and toughness.
4. Food processing: Additives for flavor and color (e.g., myoglobin, flavor amino acids) or other functional components are incorporated to impart more authentic color and aroma to cultured meat.
![Figure 2. Schematic of cultured meat production [1]](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0803/9419/1166/files/2_3ba0981e-22ef-4ee6-9c51-fb9536e13cab_1024x1024.png?v=1757556738)
Figure 2. Schematic of cultured meat production [1]
V. Cost barriers for cultured meat
The persistently high cost of cultured meat remains the primary barrier preventing its transition from laboratory to mass consumption.
1. Culture medium "Cost barrier"
Culture media costs exceed 50% of total expenses, with recombinant cytokines being the most significant bottleneck. These critical substances regulating cell proliferation and differentiation require extremely high purity and biological activity, with complex production processes (e.g., mammalian cell expression systems), lead to high unit costs.
2. Bioreactors "Diseconomies of scale"
Current bioreactors face the dilemma of "feasible in small-scale trials but unprofitable when scaled up". While laboratory-scale reactors enable precise environmental control, their production capacity remains extremely low; pilot-scale and large-scale reactors, however, must overcome the challenge of "scale-up effects".
3. "Passage bottleneck" of seed cells
The long-term passage capability of seed cells directly impacts costs.
4. "Ongoing cash burn" of technology R&D
cultured meat is in a phase of rapid technological iteration, resulting in high R&D costs.
VI. Precision application of recombinant cytokines
As a frontier alternative to traditional animal husbandry, the commercialization of cultured meat remains constrained by two core challenges: high costs and low production efficiency. During the complex processes of cell proliferation, differentiation, and tissue formation, the regulatory role of cytokines is crucial.
The precise application of recombinant cytokines is emerging as a key technological breakthrough to overcome these industry bottlenecks.
1. Cytokines: the "signal commander" in cultured meat production
In cultured meat production, simulating the in vivo microenvironment is essential to induce stem cells to differentiate into muscle cells. This process heavily relies on the precise regulation of cytokines. In traditional culture systems, cytokines are usually derived from animal sources, leading to significant batch-to-batch variability, insufficient purity, and potential safety risks.
2. Recombinant cytokines: The core tool for cost reduction and efficiency improvement
Recombinant cytokines, produced through genetic engineering and expressed in vitro, offer advantages such as high purity, stable activity, and scalable production. Their precise application can drive cost reduction and efficiency improvement in cultured meat production through three key pathways:
3. Key pathways for precision application
Precision application of recombinant cytokines relies on a dynamic matching model of "dosage-timing-cell state": High-throughput screening determines sensitivity thresholds for cytokines across cell types; Sustained-release carrier technology enables sequential cytokine delivery; Constructing "basic factors + inducing factors" composite system synergistically enhances muscle tissue formation efficiency.
VII. Yeasen Recombinant Cytokines
Recombinant cytokines serve as signaling regulators throughout the entire cultured meat production process, from seed cells culture to muscle tube maturation, exerting decisive influence on production efficiency, product quality, and cost structure. Yeasen has developed a series of HiActi® recombinant cytokines specifically designed for cell culture. Strict quality control and validation of cellular functions have ensured that the products have high activity, high purity, high stability, and low endotoxin levels.
Product Data
Bioactivity of Mouse bFGF/FGF-2
Figure 3. The ED50 as determined by a cell proliferation assay using murine Balb/c 3T3 cells is less than 1.0 ng/mL, corresponding to a specific activity of > 1.0 ×106 IU/mg. Fully biologically active when compared to standard.
Bioactivity of Human EGF
Figure 4. The ED50 as determined by a cell proliferation assay using murine Balb/c 3T3 cells is less than 1 ng/mL, corresponding to a specific activity of > 1.0 ×106 IU/mg. Fully biologically active when compared to standard.
Bioactivity of Human HGF
Figure 5. The ED50 determined by a cell proliferation assay using 4MBr5 cells is less than 10 ng/mL, corresponding to a specific activity of > 1.0 ×105 IU/mg. Fully biologically active when compared to the standard.
Bioactivity of Human VEGF165
Figure 6. Fully biologically active when compared to standard. Determined by the dose-dependent stimulation of the proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) using a concentration range of 1.0-8.0 ng/mL.
Related Product Information
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Product Name |
Catalog Number |
Specification |
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Recombinant Human EGF Protein |
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Recombinant Mouse EGF Protein |
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Recombinant Bovine EGF Protein (Animal Free) |
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Recombinant Porcine EGF Protein (Animal Free) |
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Recombinant Mouse bFGF/FGF-2 Protein |
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Recombinant Porcine Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor, FGF-2 Protein |
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Recombinant Bovine bFGF/FGF-2 Protein |
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Recombinant Human FGF-4 Protein |
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Recombinant Mouse FGF-4 Protein |
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Recombinant Human Hepatocyte Growth Factor |
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Recombinant Mouse Hepatocyte Growth Factor Protein |
10μg/100μg/1mg |
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Recombinant Human IGF-1 Protein |
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Recombinant Mouse IGF-1 |
10μg/100μg/500μg |
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Recombinant Porcine LR3 IGF-1 Protein |
10μg/50μg/100μg/500μg |
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Recombinant Human LIF Protein |
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Recombinant Mouse LIF Protein |
5μg/50μg/100μg/500μg |
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Recombinant Mouse PDGF-BB |
10μg/50μg/100μg/500μg |
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Recombinant Human/Mouse/Rat TGF-beta 1/TGF-β1 Protein |
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Recombinant Porcine TGF-β1 Protein, His Tag |
5μg/20μg |
|
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Recombinant Human TGF-beta 3 Protein |
10μg/50μg/100μg |
|
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Recombinant Rat VEGF164 |
10μg/100μg/500μg |
|
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Recombinant Human VEGF165 Protein |
2μg/10μg/50μg/100μg/1mg |
|
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Recombinant Human Wnt-3a Protein |
10μg/100μg/500μg/1mg |
1. Seah JSH, Singh S, Tan LP, Choudhury D. Scaffolds for the manufacture of cultured meat. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology 2021; 42(2):311-323.