Cultivated Meat Consortium (CMC) (2019-2023)

UC Davis Biotech Program and the Cultivated Meat Consortium (CMC)

The UC Davis Biotech Program worked with campus research faculty to help launch the UC Davis Cultivated Meat Consortium (CMC) in the fall of 2019, and continues to lead the education and training efforts of the Integrative Center for Alternative Meats and Proteins (iCAMP) which was launched in January 2024. iCAMP has absorbed the Cultivated Meat Consortium as one of three main research focus areas, along with alternative meats and proteins derived from plants and fungi.

The Biotech Program has been engaging with industry partners working on cultivated meat since 2015, through seminars, graduate student internships, and on-going conversations about the latest bioprocessing technologies, research challenges, and workforce needs. Many of our Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology PhD alumni have pursued internships and careers in the cellular agriculture industry and we continue to help build out the education and training ecosystem to support this biotech sector. In addition to co-founding the CMC, UC Davis Biotech Program director, Dr. Jamison-McClung, represents the campus on the BioMADE Education and Workforce Development Committee and serves as an advisor for related groups working in this technology space (e.g., Good Food Institute, XPRIZE Feed the Next Billion).

CMC Organizers

• Prof. David Block - Ernest Gallo Endowed Chair, Viticulture and Enology and Professor, Chemical Engineering
• Dr. Denneal Jamison-McClung - Director, Biotechnology Program  
• Kara Leong, MS - Executive Director, Viticulture and Enology

Consortium Organization and Activities (2019-2023)

The UC Davis CMC created the first research and training ecosystem for cultivated meat, tackling pre-competitive and commercial challenges in this scholarly arena. Information on events, activities and research taking place from 2019-2023, may be found on the main CMC website. 

Public-Private Partnerships for DEB Graduate Trainee Support 

Thanks to a gift from New Harvest to the UC Davis Biotechnology Program, graduate students enrolled in the Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology doctoral degree program and working in cellular agriculture, including alt proteins and cultivated meat, can apply for a DEB Research Award to support their work. 

Bioprocessing, Food Technology and Entrepreneurship at UC Davis

UC Davis is a comprehensive research-intensive university that is highly ranked in key disciplines needed for the development of cultivated meat (e.g., stem cell biology and muscle physiology, animal science, plant science, food science, chemistry, chemical engineering, biomedical/tissue engineering and agricultural economics), alternative proteins, and many related food technology sectors. We are situated along the I-80 innovation corridor for biotechnology and biomanufacturing, with access to Bay Area investors and business expertise, which supports campus entrepreneurship and translational research in food tech and agriculture. UC has a long history of cooperative extension work to build the state's agricultural sectors and the UC Davis Graduate School of Management has a Food and Agriculture focused MBA track to further accelerate the growth of businesses in this ecosystem. A number of related campus institutes, educational units, and programs are listed below. 

• Academic Units
  • Agricultural and Resource Economics
  • Animal Science
  • Biological and Agricultural Engineering
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Food Science and Technology
  • Nutrition
  • Stem Cell Program
• Research Centers and Institutes
  • California Institute of Food and Agriculture Research (CIFAR)
  • Center for Consumer Research
  • Foods for Health Institute
  • Innovation Institute for Food and Health (IIFH)
  • USDA Western Human Nutrition Research Center
• Resources for Campus Entrepreneurs and the Business Community
  • InnovationAccess 
  • Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
  • Student Startup Center
  • Venture Catalyst

NSF Growing Convergence Research (GCR) Award

In fall 2020, several CMC faculty participants were awarded $3.55 million from the National Science Foundation Office of Integrative Activities Growing Convergence Research program (Award #2021132, PI David Block, Co-PIs Keith Baar, J. Kent Leach, Karen McDonald, Lucas Smith) to establish cell lines, optimize media and processing, create scaffolds for structured meat, and conduct technoeconomic and life cycle analyses. Entitled, "GCR:  Laying the Scientific and Engineering Foundation for Sustainable Cultivated Meat Production", the research teams are focused on the following four objectives:

1. Develop an efficient strategy for stem cell amplification and differentiation to muscle, fat, and connective tissue that maintains cell line stability and supports scalability.  (Research Team Lead - Lucas Smith; Faculty Participants - Keith Baar, Anna Denicol, Priya Shah)
2. Establish a process for growing and differentiating cell lines in inexpensive, plant-based, serum-free medium up to pilot scale. (Research Team Lead - Keith Baar; Faculty Participants - David Block, Karen McDonald, Somen Nandi, Anita Oberholster, Ameer Taha, and Payam Vahmani)
3. Create biomaterials and processes that allow creation of three-dimensional tissue structure. (Research Team Lead - J. Kent Leach; Faculty Participant - Jiandi Wan)
4. Complete a techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle analysis (LCA) for cultivated meat production. (Research Team Lead - Karen McDonald; Faculty Participants - Somen Nandi, Ned Spang, and Daniel Sumner)

GCR Faculty Participants

• Prof. Keith Baar (Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior; Physiology and Membrane Biology) - Lead for Objective 2 and development of media for growth and differentiation of cells in suspension or on edible microcarriers to form unstructured product. Expertise in muscle physiology and tissue culture.

• Prof. David Block (Viticulture and Enology; Chemical Engineering) - Overall project leadership and media and growth optimization in Objective 2. Expertise in fermentation and media optimization.

  

• Asst. Prof. Anna Denicol (Animal Science) - Co-leading cell line development for Objective 1. Expertise in reproductive and developmental biology.
• Prof. J. Kent Leach (Biomedical Engineering) - Lead for Objective 3 and investigation of growth of cells to form structured tissue. Expertise in tissue culture.
• Prof. Karen McDonald (Chemical Engineering) - Lead for Objective 4 and techno-economic analysis (TEA) for creation of unstructured and structured products. Expertise in biochemical engineering, TEA for bioprocesses, and plant cell culture production of recombinant proteins.
• Adjunct Prof. Somen Nandi (Chemical Engineering; Global Healthshare Initiative) - Techno-economic analysis (TEA) of cultivated meat bioprocesses in Objective 4 and creation of edible microcarriers. Expertise in biochemical engineering and TEA for bioprocesses; plant cell culture derived recombinant proteins.
• Dr. Anita Oberholster (Viticulture and Enology) - Sensory evaluation of meat products including aroma, flavor, and texture for unstructured and structured products in Objectives 2 and 3. Expertise in food chemistry, sensory analysis of foods and beverages, and mouthfeel analysis.
• Asst. Prof. Lucas Smith (Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) - Lead for Objective 1, differentiating stem cells into fat, muscle, and connective tissue cell lines. Expertise in muscle physiology and stem cells.
• Asst. Prof. Ned Spang (Food Science and Technology) - Lifecycle analysis (LCA) of cultivated meat bioprocessing in Objective 4. Expertise in LCA of processes, energy efficiency and the reduction of food waste.
• Distinguished Prof. Daniel Sumner (Agricultural and Resource Economics) - Pricing and economic analysis in Objective 4. Expertise in agricultural economics.
• Assoc. Prof. Ameer Taha (Food Science and Technology) - Evaluation of oxidation and spoilage tendencies of unstructured (Objective 2) and structured (Objective 3) product. Expertise in lipid oxidation and food chemistry.
• Asst. Prof. Payam Vahmani (Animal Science) - Evaluation of any meat nutritional quality changes due to bioprocessing in Objectives 2 and 3. Expertise in animal science and nutrition, and the effects of meat processing on nutrition. 
• Asst. Prof. Jiandi Wan (Chemical Engineering) - Establishing the 3D structure for cultivated meat products in Objective 3. Expertise in 3D tissue culture.

 GCR Advisory Board Members

• Dr. Matt Croughan (Proprietor, Matt Croughan, Ph.D. Consulting)
• Dr. Bre Duffy (Director of Responsible Research and Innovation, U.S., New Harvest)
• Noreen Hobayan (Director of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs, BlueNalu)
• Dr. Bob Kiss (Executive VP Technical Operations, UPSIDE Foods)
• Dr. Gabriel Levesque-Tremblay (CTO, Orbillion Bio, Inc.)
• Dr. Timothy Olsen (Head of Cultured Meat, Merck KGaA)
• Dr. Aletta C. Schnitzler (CSO, TurtleTree)
• Dr. Elliot Swartz (Lead Scientist, Cultivated Meat, The Good Food Institute)

GCR Research Team Publications

• Cosenza, Z., Astudillo, R., Frazier, P. I., Baar, K., & Block, D. E. (2022). Multi‐information source Bayesian optimization of culture media for cellular agriculture. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 119(9), 2447–2458.  
• Cosenza, Z., Block, D. E., & Baar, K. (2021). Optimization of muscle cell culture media using nonlinear design of experiments. Biotechnology Journal, 16(11), 2100228.
• Kelada, K. D., Tusé, D., Gleba, Y., McDonald, K. A., & Nandi, S. (2021). Process Simulation and Techno-Economic Analysis of Large-Scale Bioproduction of Sweet Protein Thaumatin II. Foods, 10(4), 838.
• McNulty, M. J., Kelada, K., Paul, D., Nandi, S., & McDonald, K. A. (2021a). Introducing uncertainty quantification to techno-economic models of manufacturing field-grown plant-made products. Food and Bioproducts Processing, 128, 153–165.
• McNulty, M. J., Kelada, K., Paul, D., Nandi, S., & McDonald, K. A. (2021b). Techno-economic process modelling and Monte Carlo simulation data of uncertainty quantification in field-grown plant-based manufacturing. Data in Brief, 38, 107317.
• McNulty, M. J., Nandi, S., & McDonald, K. A. (2022). Technoeconomic Modeling and Simulation for Plant-Based Manufacturing of Recombinant Proteins. In S. Schillberg & H. Spiegel (Eds.), Recombinant Proteins in Plants (Vol. 2480, pp. 159–189). Springer US.
• McNulty, M. J., Silberstein, D. Z., Kuhn, B. T., Padgett, H. S., Nandi, S., McDonald, K. A., & Cross, C. E. (2021). Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and recombinant protein sources with focus on plant sources: Updates, challenges and perspectives. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 163, 10–30.
• Negulescu, P. G., Risner, D., Spang, E. S., Sumner, D., Block, D., Nandi, S., & McDonald, K. A. (2022). Techno-Economic Modelling and Assessment of Cultivated Meat: Impact of Production Bioreactor Scale. Biotechnol Bioeng. 2023;120:1055–1067.
• Ogawa, M.; Moreno García, J.; Nitin, N.; Baar, K.; Block, D.E. Assessing Edible Filamentous Fungal Carriers as Cell Supports for Growth of Yeast and Cultivated Meat. Foods 2022, 11, 3142. 
• O'Neill, E. N., Cosenza, Z. A., Baar, K., & Block, D. E. (2020). Considerations for the Development of Cost-Effective Cell Culture Media for Cultivated Meat Production. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 20(1): 686-709.
• O’Neill, E.N., Ansel, J.C., Kwong, G.A. et al. Spent media analysis suggests cultivated meat media will require species and cell type optimization. npj Sci Food, 6, 46 (2022).
• O'Neill, E. N., Neffling, M., Randall, N., Kwong, G., Ansel, J. Baar, K. and Block, D. E. (2023). The effect of serum-free media on the metabolic yields and growth rates of C2C12 cells in the context of cultivated meat production. Future Foods, 7, June 2023, 100226.
• Risner, D.; Li, F.; Fell, J.S.; Pace, S.A.; Siegel, J.B.; Tagkopoulos, I.; Spang, E.S. (2021). Preliminary Techno-Economic Assessment of Animal Cell-Based Meat. Foods, 10, 3. 

GCR Research Team Patents

• Ogawa, M., & Block, D. E. (provisional). Compositions including filamentous fungal biomass and cultured animal cells, and methods of forming and using. (Patent No. 0652.000004US60).

Cultivated Meat Short Course (First offering September 13 - 17, 2021)

The Biotechnology Program partnered with the faculty participants listed above to develop and host a fall short course (September 13-17, 2021) on the "state-of-the-art" in cultivated meat research. The team offered a four-day version of the course September 13-16, 2022. 

Many thanks to our industry partners, Upside Foods (Partnering Sponsor) and Merck KGaA (Platinum Sponsor), for summer 2021 course sponsorship.

For more information on planned 2022-2023 cultivated meat courses or community activities taking place via the CMC, please contact program manager, Jacki Balderama (jbalderama@ucdavis.edu).  

Federal Regulation of Cultivated Meat

On June 21, 2023, UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat received final approvals by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the sale of cell-cultivated chicken in the United States. This marked the first approvals of cultivated meat products in the U.S. and a turning point for the industry. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) worked with the USDA to complete a joint review process that was initially outlined in March 2019. The announcement of these approvals was preceded by the successful conclusion of premarket consultation processes by the FDA (the "no questions" letters), USDA facility approvals, and USDA label approvals in spring 2023. 

The partnership between the FDA and USDA in regulating cultivated meat is based on their traditional areas of oversight for food and feed production. These agencies hosted a webinar in 2020 to outline the rationale and plans for joint regulatory oversight: FDA and USDA Roles and Responsibilities for Cultured Animal Cell Human and Animal Food Products - YouTube. 

Regulatory oversight for U.S. cultivated meat products occurs as follows:

• FDA oversees cell collection, cell banks, and cell growth and differentiation for all types of cultivated meat. 
• FDA transfers oversight to the USDA at the stage of "harvesting" for cultured meat products that fall under the authority of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) (cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and Siluriformes fish) or the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) (chicken, turkeys, duck, geese, guineas, ratites, and squab). USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) oversees downstream processing and labeling for these types of cultivated meat. 
• All other types of animal cell cultures fall under the FDA's regulatory authority for processing and labeling via the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) and Public Health Service Act.

More details may be found on the FDA webpage Food Made with Cultured Animal Cells.

Related Resources

• June 21, 2023 - "'No kill' meat, grown from animal cells, is now approved for sale in the U.S." (All Things Considered, 3-min NPR segment by Allison Aubrey)
• March 21, 2023 - FDA Completes Second Pre-Market Consultation for Human Food Made Using Animal Cell Culture Technology Before Entering the U.S. Market, the Food Must Meet Federal Requirements
• November 16, 2022 - FDA Completes First Pre-Market Consultation for Human Food Made Using Animal Cell Culture Technology Before Entering the U.S. Market, the Food Must Meet Other Federal Requirements
• UC Davis Sets Its Sights on the Main Course by Samantha Sanders (Protein Report) - March 24, 2021
• Seminar: Developing Optimized Media for Cultivated Meat Production by Prof. David Block (UC Davis), hosted by Good Food Institute - March 3, 2021
• Video Interview: What is Cultured Meat and Where Can You Try It? Try Singapore, Where the Company behind Just Egg is Launching Cultured Chicken by Brian Cooley (CNET) - December 1, 2020
• Beyond the Impossible: Meat Grown From Cells is Better for the Planet -- If You'll Eat It by Brian Cooley (CNET) - November 17, 2020 (first publication)
• National Science Foundation Awards UC Davis $3.55 Million for Cultivated Meat Research by Erin Rees Clayton (Good Food Institute) - September 24, 2020
• UC Davis Establishes Research, Training in Cultivated Meat by Andy Fell (UC Davis) - September 23, 2020
• NSF GCR: Laying the Scientific and Engineering Foundation for Sustainable Cultivated Meat Production - Award Abstract #2021132
• USDA and FDA Press Release on Joint Regulation of Cell-Cultured Food Products from Cell Lines of Livestock and Poultry - March 7, 2019
• Formal Agreement Between FDA and USDA Regarding Oversight of Human Food Produced Using Animal Cell Technology Derived from Cell Lines of USDA-amenable Species