Hey, Carnivores: The Future Of Animal-Free ‘Meat’ Is Now

There have been a number of recent efforts to create meat without the need for slaughtering animals, but they haven’t all earned the approval of discerning diners.

But two companies think they’ve found a new technology that could revolutionize the process.

Let the cultivation begin

Aleph Farms and Enzymit teamed up to create so-called “insulin substituents” that researchers say will make it cheaper and easier to cultivate animal-free meat products.

This innovative product could be able to replace the far more expensive serum protein mimetics that have thus far been used to create such faux meats.

Aleph Farms executive Neta Lavon celebrated the milestone, calling it “imperative for driving economies of scale and taking cultivated meat mainstream.”

If this nascent industry can effectively and affordably mimic animal protein, the sky’s the limit.

“This innovation, combining Enzymit’s outstanding protein design and experimental capabilities with our team’s expertise in cellular agriculture, is helping to build the foundations for our sector to achieve cost-efficiency and long-term impact,” Lavon added.

The push to go meat-free

Efforts like this one have been prioritized in recent years due to concerns over the environmental and ethical implications of eating meat. While many folks are unlikely to adopt a meat-free mantra, the availability of such options could convince people to at least try cultivated meats.

Of course, it all comes down to how it tastes — and that’s one aspect of this story that is still waiting to be told. But Enzymit CEO Gideon Lapidoth is generally optimistic about the results so far.“With recombinant proteins currently accounting for the overwhelming majority of cell culture costs, creating highly stable and more active insulin substituents can markedly reduce the cost of growth media and increase efficiency in producing cultivated meat at scale," he said.

Chris Agee May 22nd, 2023

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