Sci-Tech

One significant hurdle on the path toward achieving consumer acceptance of cellular agriculture technologies and products is the difficulty in producing whole cuts of meat and seafood, such as steaks and fillets. Chitin- and chitosan-based scaffolds show promise for improving both the scalability and nutritional value of such cell-cultured meat products.

What options are on the food-tech menu for achieving long-term protein security? Cell culture, plants, microorganisms, algae, and fungi may all have roles to play. But from a sustainability and resilience perspective, is there a clear winner?

Gene-recombinant biotechnologies aim to produce key animal proteins at a fraction of the cost of conventional animal husbandry. The implications for research, medicine, food systems, and the climate could be huge. But can these emergent technologies scale quickly enough to spur system-wide change?