About

 
 

Background

Scaffolding provides cells a surface to grow on and appropriate access to media. For initial growth stages or for unformed meats such as sausage or mince, scaffolding can be simple microbeads within a tank, providing a surface for cells to adhere to. Alternatively, for complex meats such as steak, scaffolding will involve intricate 3D structures designed to guide complex tissue formation while allowing media to flow through adequately.

Research focus areas

  • Scaffold design - this must consider the bioreactor type, how media is delivered, particular cell requirements, desired tissue structure, and whether it is meant to be separated from the final product or consumed with it. Scaffolds can be fully constructed (via 3D printing) or derived from existing natural structures such as decellularized plant tissues. 

  • Scaffold biomaterial selection - materials need to be safe, economical and scalable. If they are to remain in the final product, they need to be nutritious, and palatable, and appropriate in terms of the impact they have on texture, mouthfeel and the cooking process. They can be made from natural compounds such as gelatin, collagen, cellulose, alginate, mycelium or even silk, or made from synthetic polymers such as PET, PEG, etc. They could also be composites of many of these.

  • Animal-free - materials must be animal-free, meaning they may be created from plants, fungi or microbes, or made synthetically or through microbial fermentation.

  • Cell-Scaffold interactions – the way different cells interact with different proteins and materials needs thorough investigation. Often the properties of these materials (stiffness, permeability) will directly affect how the cells grow. This is particularly important when co-culturing different cell types, because different cells may require varying surface properties.

  • Meat without scaffolds – to grow meat without scaffolds, methods need to be developed to adapt cells to grow in suspension (free floating in the media) or clumped into aggregates. Bioreactors need to be optimised to suit.