by: CultMeat UniTo | data 12/09/2024
Cultured meat could be a solution to some of the many environmental, cultural and ethical problems. Problems that we and the new generations are and will face if we remain anchored to our long unsustainable habits.
Cultured meat refers to a final product that is biologically identical to traditional meat but obtained by growth in a bioreactor than in a whole animal, thus using the main building unit: cells. Going into more detail, the main protagonist of this story are skeletal muscle cells obtained from stem cells. Exactly like the ones you see in the picture below!
...and which you can see with us in the lab by making some special donations, read more about it later!
But then, why isn't cultured meat already a reality?
The problem around its realization lies in the lack of advanced technology to overcome the main obstacles: the enormous production costs and the extreme difficulty of industrial scale-up without this technology. But we as Cult Meat have a solution: our project has resulted in a system with which we are able to expand these cells, differentiate them into muscle cells and use them to create 3D tissues at an extremely low cost and with a safe and controlled method from start to finish.
To date, we have used this system for studies in regenerative medicine with human cells... but thanks to your help, we will also be able to use it with bovine cells in order to obtain meat in a more sustainable and controlled manner. With your help we can isolate stem cells from the animal and, thanks to our method, cultivate them indefinitely without the need to take other samples: from a single tiny biopsy we can produce meat for everyone!
Attention, do not think that we are only scientists! Cult Meat is much broader than that: we have formed a team with partners with multiple competences in order to include ethics, sustainability, animal welfare and food safety from A to Z of our project. You may ask, "Why a philosopher on the team?" Because a more ethical vision is important at the basis of this research. Moreover, as you can see from the map below, we are a totally Piedmonts reality. So, by supporting us, you would be helping Italian research to progress and grow in the world of innovation.
Why do we need your help?
The process of isolating animal stem cells and expanding them is very expensive: around 10,000 euros. We therefore need your support so that we can finally shake the world with our discovery. With the doubling of UniTo, we will also be able to buy reagents and devices to turn them into our first cultured meat prototype.
With the first 10,000€ our veterinary team will isolate porcine stem cells. Subsequently, with the doubling of the University of Turin, we will be able to buy the reagents and products needed to keep the stem cells in culture and differentiate them into muscle cells. But it doesn't end there! As you can see, there is also a third step we would like to realize.
In fact, we would like to prove that scalability is not a problem, and so, if your generosity exceeds our hopes, we will put all remaining contributions towards the purchase of a bioreactor that will enable us to work with ever higher volumes and quantities so as to facilitate the transition to industry. The more donations we have, the bigger the grower we will be able to afford.
If cultured meat seems like a curious invention to you, we would like to invite you to reflect on this:
"Since the beginning of life, human beings have always sought to grow and develop more and more. The animal kingdom has always played a crucial role in this: it is easy for everyone to imagine our ancestors training horses to move faster or watching birds trying to discover new paths. But the real breakthrough has always been through technology, which has allowed us to stop using animals for our own purposes: we now drive cars and have invented GPS. Why shouldn't it be the same with our food?"
Be part of the story, support us now! You can do this in different ways by choosing the type of donation you prefer, have a look at the column on the right. As you will see, they all have one thing in common: a reward to personally thank you for your support. From a calendar with personalized photos of cells, to a guided tour in the lab. Because remember, your contribution is crucial!
And if after reading everything you still have questions, we have created a video for the curious. In the video below you can discover our scientific secret!
Siamo un gruppo di ricercator* UniTO con esperienza nelle biotecnologie, biologia, veterinaria ed etica della carne coltivata. Il nostro gruppo racchiude tre poli principali dell'Università di Torino tra cui il Molecular Biotechnology Center, il Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie e Palazzo Nuovo.
