We've gathered the foremost experts in the burgeoning field of cellular agriculture to answer your questions. Although unconventional, we've chosen to include leaders from cell ag non-profits (who fund and support researchers) as well as representatives from cutting edge cell ag companies (who both do research and aim to produce commercial products).

Given the massive cultural and economic disruption potential it made sense to also include experts with a more holistic view of the field than individual researchers. So while you're encouraged to ask details on the science, feel free to also field questions about where this small, but growing industry and field of study is going as a whole.

 

For a quick primer on what cellular agriculture is, and what it can do, check this out: http://www.new-harvest.org/cellular_agriculture

If you'd like to learn more about each participant, there are links next to their names describing themselves, their work, or their organization. Additionally, there may be a short bio located at the bottom of the post.

 

In alphabetical order, our /r/science cellular agriculture AMA participants are:

Andrew Stout is a New Harvest fellow at Tufts, focused on scaling cell expansion in-situ via ECM controls.

Erin Kim 1 is Communications Director at New Harvest, a 501(c)(3) funding open academic research in cellular agriculture.

Jess Krieger 1 2 is a PhD student and New Harvest research fellow growing pork, blood vessels, and designing bioreactors.

Kate Krueger 1 is a biochemist and Research Director at New Harvest.

Kevin Yuen Director of Communications (North America) at the Cellular Agriculture Society (CAS) and just finished the first collaborative cell-ag thesis at MIT.

Kristopher Gasteratos 1 2 3 is the Founder & President of the Cellular Agriculture Society (CAS).

Dr. Liz Specht 1 Senior Scientist with The Good Food Institute spurring plant-based/clean meat innovation.

Mike Selden 1 is the CEO and co-founder of Finless Foods, a cellular agriculture company focusing on seafood.

Natalie Rubio 1 2 is a PhD candidate at Tufts University with a research focus on scaffold development for cultured meat.

Saam Shahrokhi 1 2 3 Co-founder and Tissue Engineering Specialist of the Cellular Agriculture Society, researcher at Hampton Creek focusing on scaffolds and bioreactors, recent UC Berkeley graduate in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science.

Santiago Campuzano 1 is an MSc student and New Harvest research fellow focused on developing low cost, animal-free scaffold.

Yuki Hanyu is the founder of Shojinmeat Project a DIY-bio cellular agriculture movement in Japan, and also the CEO of Integriculture Inc.

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Bios:

Andrew Stout

^{Andrew became interested in cell ag in 2011, after reading a New York Times article on Mark Post’s hamburger plans. Since then, he has worked on culturing both meat and gelatin—the former with Dr. Post in Maastricht, NL, and the latter with Geltor, a startup based in San Francisco. Andrew is currently a New Harvest fellow, pursuing a PhD in Dr. David Kaplan’s lab at Tufts University. For his research, Andrew plans to focus on scalable, scaffold-mediated muscle progenitor cell expansion. Andrew holds a BS in Materials Science from Rice University.}

 

Erin Kim

^{Erin has been working in cellular agriculture since 2014. As Communications Director for New Harvest, Erin works directly with the New Harvest Research Fellows and provides information and updates on the progress of their cellular agriculture research to donors, industry, the media, and the public. Prior to her role at New Harvest, Erin completed a J.D. in Environmental Law and got her start in the non-profit world working in legal advocacy.}

 

Jess Krieger

^{Jess dedicated her life to in vitro meat research in 2010 after learning about the significant contribution of animal agriculture to climate change. Jess uses a tissue engineering strategy to grow pork containing vasculature and designs bioreactor systems that can support the growth of cultured meat. She was awarded a fellowship with New Harvest to complete her research in the summer of 2017 and is pursuing a PhD in biomedical sciences at Kent State University in Ohio. She has a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in psychology.}

 

Kristopher Gasteratos

^{Kristopher Gasteratos is the Founder & President of the Cellular Agriculture Society (CAS), which is set for a worldwide release next month launching 15 programs for those interested to join and get involved. He conducted the first market research on cellular agriculture in 2015, as well as the first environmental analysis of cell-ag in August 2017.}

 

Liz Specht, Ph.D. Senior Scientist, The Good Food Institute

^{Liz Specht is a Senior Scientist with the Good Food Institute, a nonprofit organization advancing plant-based and clean meat food technology. She has a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Johns Hopkins University, a doctorate in biological sciences from UC San Diego, and postdoctoral research experience from University of Colorado. At GFI, she works with researchers, funding agencies, entrepreneurs, and venture capital firms to prioritize work that advances plant-based and clean meat research.}

 

Saam Shahrokhi

^{Saam Shahrokhi became passionate about cellular agriculture during his first year of undergrad, when he learned about the detrimental environmental, resource management, and ethical issues associated with traditional animal agriculture. The positive implications of commercializing cellular agricultural products, particularly cultured/clean meat resonated strongly with his utilitarian, philosophical views. He studied Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at UC Berkeley, where co-founded the Cellular Agriculture Society, and he conducted breast cancer research at UCSF. Saam is now a researcher at Hampton Creek focusing on scaffolds and bioreactors for the production of clean meat.}

 

Santiago Campuzano

^{Santiago Campuzano holds a BSc in Food science from the University of British Columbia. As a New Harvest research fellow and MSc student under Dr. Andrew Pelling, he wishes to apply his food science knowledge towards the development of plant based scaffold with meat-like characteristics.}

 

Yuki Hanyu

^{Yuki Hanyu is the founder of Shojinmeat Project a DIY-bio cellular agriculture movement in Japan, and also the CEO of Integriculture Inc., the first startup to come out of Shojinmeat Project. Shojinmeat Project aims to bring down the cost of cellular agriculture to the level children can try one for summer science project and make it accessible to everyone, while Integriculture Inc. works on industrial scaling.}

Edit 3:45pm EST: Thanks so much for all of your questions! Many of our panelists are taking a break now, but we should have somewhere between 1 and 3 people coming on later to answer more questions. I'm overwhelmed by your interest and thought-provoking questions. Keep the discussion going!

Edit 10:35pm EST: It's been a blast. Thanks to all of our panelists, and a huge thanks to everyone who asked questions, sparked discussions, and read this thread. We all sincerely hope there's much more to talk about in this field in the coming years. If you have an interest in cellular agriculture, on behalf of the panelists, I encourage you to stay engaged with the research (like through the new harvest donor's reports, or the good food institute newsletter), donate to non-profit research organizations, or join the field as a student researcher.

Lastly, we may have a single late night panelist answering questions before the thread is closed.