Bacon in Space? Lab-Grown Fat Cells A ’Game-Changer’ For Cultivated Meat

Pig fat cell production could transform lab-grown meat development, with rare combination of reliable and stable cell growth.

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A source of fat cells from pigs has been developed in the lab, offering scientists and food manufacturers a promising tool for the large-scale production of cultivated meat without genetic modification.

In a new paper, researchers from the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute showed the novel cell line was capable of efficiently producing fat tissue with remarkable consistency.

The development could address the challenge of generating realistic, sustainable animal fat, a significant hurdle in the cultivated meat industry.

The cells, known as FaTTy, are formed from early-stage stem cells which develop into fat, and can grow indefinitely in the lab without losing the ability to reliably produce fat cells.

In contrast, most other animal stem cells quickly lose this capability, making large-scale use impractical.

Findings show that the fat produced closely resembled native pig fat in its composition, with slightly higher levels of healthier monounsaturated fats.

This discovery represents a significant step forward in a global market estimated to grow by between $5 and $30 billion by 2030.

Ethical Advantage

The outcome helps meet the need for fat as a key component in delivering the flavour and texture that consumers expect from meat without actually involving animals.

Engineering fat for lab-grown meat at scale has so far proven difficult, especially when trying to avoid genetic modifications or animal-derived additives.

The Roslin team sought to grow stem cells derived from five piglets, and discovered that cells from one of the piglets were able to reproduce virtually indefinitely without the need for gene editing.

Dr Tom Thrower, lead researcher at the Roslin Institute, said, “We didn’t simply develop a tool, we made a very special discovery.,”

“The fact that these cells not only grow indefinitely but also retain their ability to become fat at such high efficiency is something we have never seen before in livestock stem cells. It opens the door to new possibilities in cultivated meat and beyond.”