Project description
Revolutionising the process of alternative meat production
The growing demand for meat in combination with the attempt to reduce total CO2 emissions from livestock has led to the pursuit of biotechnical solutions for meat production. One of the main practices introduced to address this challenge is cell-cultured meat (CCM) production, achieved through the growth of meat cells from a small sample of stem cells collected from the animal. The EU-funded CCMeat project will introduce a set of innovative, affordable, endotoxin-free growth factors designed specifically for the CCM industry. Through its innovative technology, CCMeat aims to help CCM producers bring their alternative meat products to the market and contribute to reducing the negative consequences of conventional meat production.
Objective
ORF Genetics is a female-lead plant biotechnology company biofarming protein in barley for use in medical research, stem cell technology and skincare. Since 2001, we have produced over 50 proteins, specializing in human growth factors (GFs) which regulate the growth and development of cells. Our main focus has been on GFs for skincare use and now with our team of over 80 qualified scientists, researchers, marketers and more, we are aiming at a larger market, the cell-cultured meat (CCM) industry. The CCMeat project removes the biggest hurdle CCM producers are facing to bring their alternative meat products to market. With innovations in our technology we will produce affordable, endotoxin-free growth factors designed specifically for CCM: the MESOkine™ line (patent to be filed in June 2020). This will be done by scaling cultivation from our 2000m2 state-of-the-art geothermally powered greenhouse in Iceland to in-field cultivation sites. We will also introduce a protein processing technology (patent to be filed in July 2020) that will substantially decrease production costs and lead to greater GF yields. By 2030, our MESOkine™ line will drop GF prices from 3000€/kg of cultured meat to approximately 0.7€/kg meat at scales necessary to produce over 7 million tonnes of meat. We are already providing samples to CCM customers and expect to reach a 40% market share within 5 years with our strong first mover advantage. MESOkine™ sales are expected to rise exponentially and reach profitability of €19 million by 2026. As the demand for meat continues to grow, this innovation will have a profound impact on our planet, enabling CCM to avert many of the negative consequences of conventional meat production. This includes reducing greenhouse gases by more than 250 million tonnes of CO2-eq emissions, deforestation by producing 7-52 times as much meat with one hectare of land, and antibiotic resistance by sparing over 1000 tonnes of livestock antibiotic use.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanets
- medical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologycells technologiesstem cells
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandry
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacydrug resistanceantibiotic resistance
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinator
IS-203 KOPAVOGUR
Iceland
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.