3.1 Defining scope and challenges
On day one of the meeting, the group started with a dialogue on the
cultivated meat industry and its potential impact on the world, both
positive and negative. This was followed by a small group activity where
participants envisioned the ideal impact of the cultivated meat modeling
consortium (CMMC) on the cultivated meat field by 2022. Participants
identified various goals of the consortium, such as the development of
open source tools for a highly collaborative cultivated meat modeling
effort, financial support from public sector institutions such as the
USDA and NSF, endorsement from respected public figures such as
political leaders, and the early debut of cultivated meat products on
the market.
In order to achieve these goals, the CMMC would have to address current
technical (“science” and “process”), product quality (“product”)
and commercial challenges in the cultivated meat industry. The group
brainstormed the broad challenge types and identified those that could
be most easily addressed by computer modeling. The “science”
challenges identified as “low hanging fruit” for the consortium
included data collection, understanding relevant metabolic pathways, and
medium composition/optimization. “Process” challenges, or challenges
in developing a manufacturing process for cultivated meat that were
identified as relevant to the consortium include optimal cell density,
the use of plant-based media for sustainable cell culture, and efficient
channeling of cell differentiation. “Product” challenges most relevant
to the consumer included nutritional value of the product and its
sensory qualities such as texture, taste and flavor. The group also
identified the issue of getting funded to develop a modeling framework
for 2-3 years before a fully mature product is available to users.