Another milestone in the development of cultured meat through printing: growing muscle tissue on plant-based scaffolds

It is a biological ink consisting of a combination of alginate from algae and proteins isolated from the plant - soy or pea. It is injected in the printing process to create protein-enriched scaffolds in different geometries

Success in creating edible muscle fibers by printing a plant-based scaffold - this is what a new article by Prof. Shulamit Levenberg and doctoral student Iris Yanovich from the Technion's Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, in collaboration with the cultured meat company Alf Farms, deals with. In the research described in the article, Dr. Yedidia Zagouri, Dr. Idan Radansky and Dr. Neta Levon are also partners.

In an article published in the journal biomaterials The researchers present a process of creating muscle fibers, while reducing the use of materials taken from animals. In their estimation, beyond the scientific-engineering achievement, it is possible that this technology will enable the rapid production of cultured meat on a large scale in the future.

Developing cultured meat is a significant challenge in this era for several reasons, including the growing need for meat products as a result of population growth, the environmental damage caused by cattle breeding and the desire to prevent animal cruelty. In order to face the challenge of cultured meat, technologies are needed that enable the production of pieces of meat that are as similar as possible to those produced from animals, in terms of taste, smell, texture and safety. Beyond that, in order to make cultured meat a popular food, fast production processes are required on a large scale and at a price that does not significantly exceed the price of animal meat.

Prof. Shulamit Levenberg from the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion is a world-renowned expert in tissue engineering. She entered the field of cultured meat a few years ago, with the understanding that her inventions in the field of tissue engineering for medical purposes are relevant to growing cultured meat. Her research on this subject led to the establishment of Alf Pharms, which supported the research that is now being published. Last year, Alf Farms introduced the first cultured entrecote cut in history, which was produced in the Levenberg laboratory at the Technion, and it continues to develop new products. The company's CEO is Didia Tovia, Prof. Levenberg is the company's chief scientific advisor and Dr. Neta Levon is the chief technology manager.

The major challenges in the field of cultured meat were also at the center of the current research: the production of thick cuts and the application of alternative materials as scaffolds for this purpose. Maintaining the vitality of the cells deep in the cultured tissue is not a simple task, and most of the materials used as scaffolds for tissue growth are currently derived from animals. The Technion researchers propose in their article to solve these problems by means of XNUMXD printing, with biological ink, of plant-derived scaffolds. The ink contains the cells from which the complete tissue will grow - satellite cells derived from a biopsy taken from cattle.

This biological ink consists of a combination of alginate (alginate, a substance derived from algae) and proteins isolated from the plant - soy or pea. It is injected in the printing process to create protein-enriched scaffolds in different geometries. The biological ink is printed in a bath that supports the injected material during printing and solidification.

The results: After printing the scaffolds, a very high vitality of the cells was observed, which also underwent maturation to form muscle fibers during the growth of the tissue. Since the geometry of the scaffolds can be controlled, it is possible to control the entry of nutrients and the removal of waste from the developing tissue. 

According to Prof. Levenberg, "In the engineering process we developed in the laboratory, we tried to a large extent to imitate the natural process of creating tissue in the animal's body, and the scaffold did support the adhesion of the cells, their growth and division. The biological ink helped in the uniform distribution of the cells and allowed the cells to grow on it. Since we used non-animal ingredients, including pea protein, which is known for not causing allergies, our findings hold great promise for the continued development of the cultured meat market."

for the article in the journal biomaterials 

More of the topic in Hayadan:

• Printing a tissue rack with a branched vascular network The goal: fast and efficient transplantation in damaged organs
• BI-U honey was able to express a cultured royal jelly food protein
• The google maps of the brain: locating RNA fragments in brain cells without removing the tissue
• Success in creating an engineered implant that replaces damaged bone tissue
• The organization of the quality control system of proteins affects the onset of neurodegenerative diseases