Lab-Grown Meat: The Role of Chemistry in Cellular Agriculture

With rise in global population coupled with growing concerns regarding animal welfare and food security, lab-grown meat has turned out to be a viable substitute to traditional livestock production. It implies using cellular agriculture to produce meat without killing or raising animals. The meat is referred to as cultivated or cultured meat.

Market Overview: Growth and Expansion

The global lab-grown meat market size was US$ 287.0 Mn in 2024 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 25.3% during 2025-2035. Consumer ethics, rising concern related to environment and food security, and rising demand for alternative protein are expected to drive the lab-grown meat market in the near future. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) livestock sector is responsible for 18% of the greenhouse gas emission. Further, 30% of the earth’s surface is used for livestock farming.

The Chemistry of Cell Growth and Development

Growth of chemical cells in a controlled environment is the prominent process for lab-grown meat production. In this process a nutrient-rich growth medium is used to replicate the natural setting inside an animal body. The growth media used in this process are:

Amino Acids and Proteins: Help in muscle development and tissue repair
Lipids and Fatty Acids: Help in developing cell membrane structure and energy storage
Carbohydrates: It is broken down into glucose to provide energy to body functions and cellular metabolism.
Vitamins and Minerals: Perform the function of cofactors in enzymatic processes necessary for cell growth
Growth Factors and Hormones: Important in signaling molecules factors such as fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) and transforming growth factors (TGFs) to regulate cell differentiation and tissue morphogenesis

Chemists are continuously modifying the composition of these media types to make them efficient and cost-effective. This also intended to replace costly animal-derived products like fetal bovine serum with plant-based or synthetic substitutes.

Scaffold Chemistry: Structuring Lab-Grown Meat

One major challenge in lab-grown meat production is creating a structure that replicates the texture and mouthfeel of conventional meat. Scaffolds biocompatible structures on which cells attach, grow, and differentiate are needed for this purpose. Scaffolds are based on the following chemistry:

Biopolymers: Biological materials such as alginate, collagen, chitosan, and proteoglycans are used to produce edible and biodegradable scaffolds for tissue engineering.
Hydrogels: Cross-linked polymer networks with a hydrated medium in which cells can grow to form three-dimensional structures.
Electrospinning and 3D Bioprinting: Advanced techniques such as 3D printing and polymer spinning technologies including electrospinning, decellularization, tunable hydrogels are used to develop accurate scaffold and replicate muscle fibers

The texture of the final product and its nutritional value, shelf stability, and viability of large-scale production depends on the selection of scaffold material.

Bringing the Flavor to Lab-Grown Meat through Chemistry

The key challenge in lab-grown meat production is to replicate the flavor of conventional meat. This is developed from a mixture of amino acids, lipids, and Maillard reaction products during cooking. Flavor enhancement is greatly facilitated by chemists with:

Researching Volatile Compounds: Identifying the key aroma molecules responsible for the characteristic smell of cooked meat
Improvement in Fat Composition: Altering lipid profiles to achieve the right balance of unsaturated and saturated fats to provide juiciness and mouthfeel
Application of Reaction Chemistry: Optimizing the chemical process between amino acids and sugars that creates the browned (known as Maillard reaction), savory flavors in grilled meat.

Synthetic and naturally derived flavor compounds are being explored to enrich lab-grown meat’s sensory attraction, so that it tastes similar to traditionally farmed meat.

Recent Developments around Lab-Grown Meat Market

In December 2020, lab-grown meat was approved for sale by regulatory authority in Singapore
In June 2023, cultured meat was approved for production and commercial sale by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in U.S. Two California based companies UPSIDE Foods and Good Meat started offering cell-cultivated chicken in the U.S.

The Future of Lab-Grown Meat Industry

The viability of lab-grown meat depends on the ongoing improvement in chemistry to produce it at a large scale, which is attractive to consumers and is cost-efficient. Future research should be focused on:

Developing complex meat products such as steak or chicken breast
Development of affordable and sustainable growth media.
Improvement in scaffolding materials to improve texture and nutritional value.
Enhancement of flavor chemistry to produce an authentic experience.

Significant advances in tissue engineering techniques will be needed to commercialize lab-grown meat and take it from the laboratory to the plate. With continued research and investment, cultivated meat has the potential to provide a sustainable and suitable alternative to conventional meat. It is estimated that cultivated meat could account for 10% of the meat market by 2030 and 35% by 2040.