The Benefits of Cellular Agriculture

The Environment and Ecosystem

Currently, animal farming is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, producing approximately 14.5% of the total. Considering all that is being done in the automobile industry to reduce carbon emissions, it is shocking how livestock farming contributes so much with little action taken to reduce it. Until now.

Cellular agriculture has the potential of helping reduce global GHGs as well as promote more responsible uses of natural resources. While more research is needed to assess the environmental impact of the field at scale, early life cycle assessments of the field found that cell-based meat would require less land and water and produce significantly less GHGs.

Beyond the environmental impact, cellular agriculture would influence animal welfare by reducing the number of animals used in the food production system. Without another way to produce animal products, large factory farms would be under pressure to produce even more animal products. It is likely that animal welfare conditions would worsen from their current states to meet the demand.

Health and Food Safety

Regarding human health and food safety, cell-based products would not require the large amount of antibiotics that are currently given to animals. In the US, nearly 80% of all antibiotics sold go to animal farming. The increasing overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture has led to various health issues, including the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Another advantage of producing cell-based meat is that there will be no risk of bacterial contamination, such as E. coli or Salmonella, because cell cultures require sterile conditions and stringent process controls.

Food Security

Cell-based products could play a key role against food insecurity. Extreme weather conditions and unpredictable events such as animal epidemics have led to the unavailability of healthy and safe food in different regions of the world. With climate change, these conditions have worsened and could become a major threat to our food supply. Cellular agriculture could provide an alternative supply channel that is less dependent on the environmental conditions and could potentially be established in places where agricultural practices are not ideal.