Serum-free cultured meat

Back in 2019, the Dutch company had already successfully removed FBS as a growth medium from their production process. Over a year ago, researchers of Mosa Meat submitted a paper on their findings, including the description of processes and differentiation medium ingredients. In January the peer-reviewed article was published in the academic journal Nature Food.

While the findings are publicly available, Mosa Meat CEO Maarten Bosch emphasizes “we’re also dedicated to creating a healthy business and protecting our intellectual property.” Therefore, the company has filed a patent for a serum-free proliferation medium and serum-free differentiation medium to protect it for commercial use.

First author Tobias Messmer explains their particular interest in “proteins on the surface of cells that increase during differentiation. By specifically activating these proteins (known as ‘receptors’), we are now able to recreate the same transition in the absence of any FBS.’’ Corresponding author, Dr. Joshua Flack, stresses the importance of their method as a “milestone for us and for the cultivated meat field because there’s no method out there that describes the differentiation of primary satellite cells if you don’t want to use FBS or genetically modify your cells.”

By revealing their method, the company invites other academic and commercial researchers in the field to contribute to collective problem solving “for the advancement of the entire cellular agriculture field.” In their statement, the company declares that “the technical challenges that the cellular agriculture industry faces can only be overcome by working together. So, we are pleased to share our knowledge today. We look forward to sharing more of our progress in the future, as well as seeing continued progress across our new industry in the future.”

FBS is extensively used for cell propagation by researchers, pharmaceutical companies, and biotechnical manufacturers. Its use in animal cell culture has been highly criticized, especially for cultivated meat. The serum is extracted from bovine fetuses during the slaughtering of pregnant cows. Apart from ethical concerns, the environmental and economic impact has been greatly debated by both supporters and skeptics of cellular agriculture. Therefore, replacing FBS has been a research focus in the production of cultivated meat.