Preliminary Techno-Economic Assessment of Animal Cell-Based Meat

Derrick Risner; Fangzhou Li; Jason S Fell; Sara A Pace; Justin B Siegel; Ilias Tagkopoulos; Edward S Spang

doi:10.3390/foods10010003

Preliminary Techno-Economic Assessment of Animal Cell-Based Meat

Foods. 2020 Dec 22;10(1):3. doi: 10.3390/foods10010003.

Authors

Derrick Risner¹, Fangzhou Li^{2

3}, Jason S Fell³, Sara A Pace¹, Justin B Siegel^{3

4

5

6}, Ilias Tagkopoulos^{2

3

6}, Edward S Spang^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Science and Technology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
² Department of Computer Science, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
³ Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
⁴ Departments of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
⁵ Innovation Institute for Food and Health, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
⁶ USDA, AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS), University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

Abstract

Interest in animal cell-based meat (ACBM) or laboratory-grown meat has been increasing; however, the economic viability of these potential products has not been thoroughly vetted. Recent studies suggest monoclonal antibody production technology can be adapted for the industrialization of ACBM production. This study provides a scenario-based assessment of the projected cost per kilogram of ACBM produced in the United States based on cellular metabolic requirements and process/chemical engineering conventions. A sensitivity analysis of the model identified the nine most influential cost factors for ACBM production out of 67 initial parameters. The results indicate that technological performance will need to approach technical limits for ACBM to achieve profitably as a commodity. However, the model also suggests that low-volume high-value specialty products could be viable based on current technology.

Keywords: bioengineering; biomanufacturing; bioreactor; cell-based meat; cultured meat; process engineering; techno-economic assessment.

Abstract

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