Cellular agriculture: An extension of common production methods of food

Abstract

Global demand for animal protein is rising, but industrial animal product production raises sustainability, health, and animal welfare concerns. While plant-based alternatives are improving, cellular agriculture offers a direct solution by producing genuine animal proteins through fermentation. This involves integrating the genetic material for the desired animal protein into a host organism (e.g., yeast, fungi, or bacteria), which is then cultivated to produce large quantities of the protein. The resulting protein is identical to its animal-derived counterpart and possesses equivalent sensory and functional characteristics. This technology has been safely used for decades to produce food enzymes, demonstrating its established safety and efficacy. Cellular agriculture can be viewed as an extension of this well-established technology, presenting opportunities for innovation to further enhance its efficiency and address novel technical challenges.