Engineering the future of food: cell selection, culture media, production, and sustainability of lab-grown meat

Cultured meat (CM), which was produced by growing animal cells in vitro instead of raising and killing whole animals, was considered a groundbreaking innovation in food production. Choosing the right cell types was a fundamental stage in the creation of CM, and the main sources included adult stem cells (such as FAPs, muscle satellite cells, and MSCs) and pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs and ESCs). Ethical considerations, differentiation possibilities, and scalability each had unique benefits. Cells were sourced, grown in bioreactors, introduced onto biocompatible scaffolds, and tissue was matured into edible products as part of the production process. Culture media and scaffold materials had a major impact on tissue formation and cell proliferation; research was still being conducted to find sustainable and serum-free substitutes. The ability of CM to reduce land and water use, and animal suffering while allowing safer, healthier, and more personalized meat products was what made it environmentally viable. Cost cutting, energy efficiency, mass media production, waste management, and societal acceptance were still issues, though. These challenges had to be removed in order to include CM in future sustainable diets, as defined by the FAO and WHO, while safeguarding cost and nutritional adequacy. According to modelling studies, under certain situations, CM might have provided a small contribution to low-impact diets. As the field developed, CM integration with multiple protein sources and sustainable food systems was seen as crucial to achieving environmental and global food security objectives.