Global funding in the cultured meat industry dropped by 75% in the last year. Singapore sees its chance to become a world leader, backing local and international firms.
there are still some major challenges though. Not insurmountable, but challenges nonetheless. One of the most interesting I found is that you need to protect the meat from bacteria and fungi. A animal has an immune system (and a host of antibiotics pumped in to them). A piece of meat growing in vat hasn’t. But it does have optimal conditions for growth of bacteria. So you need a clean lab environment. That’s possible, but very hard to scale up.
I think the hype was there, but now is the moment the industry needs to mature and make it work in a way.
there are still some major challenges though. Not insurmountable, but challenges nonetheless. One of the most interesting I found is that you need to protect the meat from bacteria and fungi. A animal has an immune system (and a host of antibiotics pumped in to them). A piece of meat growing in vat hasn’t. But it does have optimal conditions for growth of bacteria. So you need a clean lab environment. That’s possible, but very hard to scale up.
I think the hype was there, but now is the moment the industry needs to mature and make it work in a way.