Cellular agriculture is concerned with producing agricultural foods using a combination of synthetic biology, biotechnology, molecular biology and tissue engineering.
In short, it is a question of researching new methods of production of proteins, fats and tissues that would otherwise have to be produced by traditional agriculture. Currently, efforts are mainly focused on the production of milk, eggs and meat (products also known as synthetic foods), which are made in cell culture.
It is hypothesized that these production processes may be a solution to the environmental impact of livestock farming or intensive agriculture.
Cellular agriculture is concerned with producing agricultural foods using a combination of synthetic biology, biotechnology, molecular biology and tissue engineering. It is hypothesized that these production processes may be a solution to the environmental impact of livestock farming or intensive agriculture.
The purpose of cellular agriculture, in short, is to research new methods of production of proteins, fats and tissues that would otherwise have to be produced by traditional agriculture. Currently, efforts are mainly focused on the production of milk, eggs and meat (products also known as synthetic foods), which are made in cell culture.
Most of the discussions surrounding cellular agriculture have been based on food applications, especially cultivated papers. Despite this, cellular agriculture can be used to create any type of agricultural product.
As has already been said, most of the discussions on this have focused in particular on cultured meat. Cultured meat is meat produced from in vitro cell cultures of animal cells. It is produced using tissue engineering techniques that are typically used in regenerative medicines. It is hoped that this production method will alleviate the environmental impact caused by meat production, promote animal welfare and have beneficial effects on food safety and people's health.
In 2021 the media would report on the world's first synthetic coffee products. They were created by two biotechnology companies. From the point of view of environmental impact, producing coffee of this type would mean using less water, generating less carbon emissions and not causing deforestation.