Science & Cocktails: Where is the cultivated meat?

Science & Cocktails is a series of public talks by scientists with live music and smoky dry-ice chilled cocktails in your hand.

19:30 doors open for cocktails
19:45 comforter2 (live music)
20:30 Prof. dr. Mark Post (talk)
Event in English, semi-seated.

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Where is the cultivated meat?
Animal meat can be grown in a lab. In August 2013 professor Mark Post presented the world's first hamburger from cultivated beef, so the technology has been around for a while. But where is the cultivated meat in our shops? Is it safe to eat? Can cultivated meat be a nature and animal friendly and sustainable solution to the increasing demand for animal protein? Can you use the technology to manufacture other products? And will all our food be cultured in a factory in the future?

Since the start of scientific development of cultivated meat in 2005 major steps have been made to convert this originally medical technology into a food production process. Whereas some of the developments remain based on results and concepts derived from the far larger and better funded regenerative medicine research and pharmaceutical biotechnology, additional challenges force the cultivated meat society to pursue divergent routes. The unimaginable scale of cell/tissue production and need for low-cost production are challenges of technical and logistic nature. Not only rigorous optimization of existing processes but also novel scientific development is required to overcome these challenges, such as finding new nutrient sources for cell culture. Growth of astronomical numbers of mammalian cells require extensive upstream and downstream bioprocess development and perhaps innovation in bioreactor design. In addition to massive cell expansion, the cells need to form tissue. This typically requires the temporary support by scaffolds made from edible biomaterials. And there are consumer related challenges of a more ethical nature. The need for animal-component free culture of cells and tissues, abstinence of antibiotics and, for some consumers, genetic modification limit the solution-space available to developers of cultivated meat and for materials needed. At the same time, consumers are increasingly willing to accept alternative sources of meat, looking for more sustainable and nature and animal friendly solutions.

This event is an initiative by the Dutch Institute for Emergent Phenomena (DIEP) with the support of the University of Amsterdam. Science & Cocktails Amsterdam is presented in cooperation with Paradiso Amsterdam.