June 25, 2019 — Shiok Meats, based in Singapore, made headlines when it unveiled a small quantity of lab-grown shrimp meat in the form of “siew mai” dumplings at the Disruption in Food and Sustainability Summit in March. Only three people – all associated with the company – got a taste, but it was a proof that the goal was achievable.
The company may have a leg up on competitors working on beef, as CEO Sandhya Sriram has confirmed to SeafoodSource that fish and crustacean cell culture is easier than in mammals because they tolerate lower oxygen levels and temperatures. Diffusion of oxygen to tissues becomes a problem when cells are grown in three-dimensional shapes. The cells’ ability to tolerate lower temperatures also reduces heating costs.
Despite these advantages of working with shrimp, the cost is still exorbitant; the eight dumplings, containing a small amount of cultured shrimp cells, cost around USD 5,000 (EUR 4,386) and took a few months to produce. The main barrier to cost-efficient production, according to Sriram, is the media.
“The cells grow in a nutrient mix/broth/soup called ‘media’ which is a mix of carbohydrates, proteins and fats – this mix currently is only produced by pharmaceutical companies as the clean meat industry is an extension of the stem cell industry used for therapy and organogenesis,” Sriram said. “Since this media now is pharma-grade, it is extremely expensive. The cost of production will go down once we find plant-based, edible and sustainable sources of nutrients in which the cells will grow.”
Organogenisis is the production of organs for transplant in the medical industry. The term “clean meat” is meant to contrast lab-grown meat from that grown in farmed, or even wild conditions, as these may contain antibiotics, pollution or parasites.
The emphasis on plant-based media is important because the majority of media currently used for in-vitro cell culture of eukaryotic cells is fetal bovine serum (FBS), which comes from blood drawn from a bovine (cow) fetus at the slaughterhouse. As an example of the high cost of this media, a case of 10 500 milliliter bottles of Corning-brand fetal bovine serum is available from a supplier for USD 5,150 (EUR 4,517).