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Science
What Is Cultivated Meat?
A clear introduction to the science and promise of meat grown directly from animal cells.
Read More →A deeper look into cultivated meat, cellular agriculture, food technology, sustainability, and the people building a new food system.
Cultivated meat — also known as clean meat, cultured meat, or lab-grown meat — refers to meat produced from animal cells rather than raising and slaughtering an entire animal. It represents a fundamental shift in how protein can be produced.
The broader field of cellular agriculture explores how biotechnology can be used to produce meat, dairy, eggs, and other animal-derived products directly from cells. This emerging field sits at the intersection of biology, engineering, and food science.
Understand the Science →What cultivated meat is, how it is produced, and why it matters for the future of food.
Learn More →Discover the biotechnology behind producing food from cells, without raising and slaughtering animals.
Learn More →Explore cells, culture media, bioreactors, tissue engineering, and the challenges of production.
Learn More →Examine how food technology may influence agriculture, sustainability, and global food systems.
Learn More →Animal cells are selected as the starting point.
Cells are provided with conditions that support growth.
Cells are expanded in controlled environments.
Cells can be developed into structured animal tissue.
The resulting cultivated material can be incorporated into food products.
The convergence of biotechnology, tissue engineering, and food science is opening new possibilities for protein production. This article explores the current state of cellular agriculture and what lies ahead.
Read Article →In this book, Paul Shapiro explores the history, science, and future of cultivated meat — from early concepts to the companies working to bring it to market. It's a compelling look at how biotechnology could transform the way we produce protein.
Shapiro weaves together stories of entrepreneurs, scientists, and investors who are working to create a more sustainable food system, while also examining the cultural and economic implications of moving away from conventional animal agriculture.
How biotechnology is changing food production — from cell culture to fermentation and beyond.
Questions surrounding land, resources, emissions, and food systems in a changing world.
Consumer acceptance, regulation, economics, ethics, and the cultural shift toward new proteins.
Clean meat — also referred to as cultivated meat or cultured meat — is meat produced from animal cells in a laboratory or industrial setting, without the need to raise and slaughter an entire animal. The process uses cell culture techniques to grow muscle and fat tissue that are structurally similar to conventional meat.
Cultivated meat is the preferred term for meat produced through cellular agriculture. It involves taking a small sample of animal cells and providing them with nutrients and conditions that enable them to multiply and form tissue. The result is meat that is biologically comparable to conventional meat but produced without animal slaughter.
No. Plant-based meat is made from plant proteins (such as soy, pea, or wheat) and is designed to mimic the taste and texture of meat. Cultivated meat, on the other hand, is actual animal tissue grown from cells. The two approaches are distinct but both fall under the broader category of alternative proteins.
Cultivated meat is produced by taking a small biopsy of animal cells (such as muscle cells) and placing them in a nutrient-rich culture medium. The cells are then grown in bioreactors, where they multiply and differentiate into muscle and fat tissue. The process can take several weeks, and the resulting tissue can be harvested and processed into food products.
Cellular agriculture has the potential to produce animal-derived foods more efficiently, using fewer land and water resources, and with lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional animal agriculture. It also offers a way to produce meat without animal slaughter, addressing ethical and welfare concerns.
As of 2026, cultivated meat is available in limited commercial quantities in select markets, including Singapore, the United States, and Israel. However, production costs and scale remain significant challenges, and the technology is still in its early stages of commercialization.
Environmental considerations include land use, water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy use. Cultivated meat has the potential to reduce the environmental footprint of meat production, but the actual impact depends on how the technology is scaled and what energy sources are used for production.
Key challenges include high production costs, the need for large-scale bioreactor infrastructure, regulatory approval processes, consumer acceptance, and the development of cost-effective, animal-free culture media. These challenges are being addressed by research and investment in the field.
Cultivated meat is regulated by food safety authorities in each jurisdiction. In the United States, it is jointly regulated by the FDA (for the cell-culture process) and the USDA (for the final food product). In other countries, similar regulatory frameworks are being developed or implemented.
The future of cultivated meat depends on continued research, cost reduction, scaling of production, regulatory clarity, and consumer acceptance. Many experts believe it will play a meaningful role in the future protein mix, alongside plant-based options and improved conventional agriculture practices.