Bioengineering Outlook on Cultivated Meat Production

Cultured meat (also referred to as cultivated meat or cell-based meat)---[CM]{.caps}---is fabricated through the process of cellular agriculture ([CA]{.caps}), which entails application of bioengineering, i.e., tissue engineering ([TE]{.caps}) principles to the production of food. The main [TE]{.caps} principles include usage of cells, grown in a controlled environment provided by bioreactors and cultivation media supplemented with growth factors and other needed nutrients and signaling molecules, and seeded onto the immobilization elements---microcarriers and scaffolds that provide the adhesion surfaces necessary for anchor-dependent cells and offer 3D organization for multiple cell types. Theoretically, many solutions from regenerative medicine and biomedical engineering can be applied in [CM]{.caps}-[TE]{.caps}, i.e., [CA]{.caps}. However, in practice, there are a number of specificities regarding fabrication of a [CM]{.caps} product that needs to fulfill not only the majority of functional criteria of muscle and fat [TE]{.caps}, but also has to possess the sensory and nutritional qualities of a traditional food component, i.e., the meat it aims to replace. This is the reason that bioengineering aimed at [CM]{.caps} production needs to be regarded as a specific scientific discipline of a multidisciplinary nature, integrating principles from biomedical engineering as well as from food manufacturing, design and development, i.e., food engineering. An important requirement is also the need to use as little as possible of animal-derived components in the whole [CM]{.caps} bioprocess. In this review, we aim to present the current knowledge on different bioengineering aspects, pertinent to different current scientific disciplines but all relevant for [CM]{.caps} engineering, relevant for muscle [TE]{.caps}, including different cell sources, bioreactor types, media requirements, bioprocess monitoring and kinetics and their modifications for use in [CA]{.caps}, all in view of their potential for efficient [CM]{.caps} bioprocess scale-up. We believe such a review will offer a good overview of different bioengineering strategies for [CM]{.caps} production and will be useful to a range of interested stakeholders, from students just entering the [CA]{.caps} field to experienced researchers looking for the latest innovations in the field.