Ongoing Project:
Methods Development for Measuring Growth Factors
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This project aims to develop and validate analytical methods for reliably measuring growth factors that can be used to estimate exposure levels when consumed in cultured meat and seafood products.
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Growth factors are a key input in cultured meat production due to their roles in controlling cell proliferation and differentiation. Currently, the lack of standardized methods for measuring growth factors slows safety demonstration and regulatory review.
This project aims to develop and validate analytical methods for reliably measuring growth factors that can be used to estimate exposure levels when consumed in cultured meat and seafood products.
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This project is a collaboration led by Multus with Vireo Advisors, Aberytswyth University in Wales, and Extracellular.
Developing an action plan for collaborative research on culture media food safety: June 2025 working session, UK
This working session of the CMSI advanced key safety research priorities for cultured meat, with a focus on culture media. Participants refined priority areas through breakout discussions and identified actionable next steps for collaborative, pre-competitive research.
Specific outcomes included preliminary research roadmaps for developing validated analytical methods for detecting residues, standardizing Certificates of Analysis (CoAs) for media ingredients, characterizing metabolites and breakdown products, improving methods for analyzing complex mixtures like lysates and hydrolysates, and establishing open-access databases for growth factors and antibodies.
Challenges such as protecting proprietary data, lack of standardized methods, and high development costs were acknowledged, with solutions centered on forming cross-sector consortia, adapting existing frameworks, and promoting data sharing through anonymization.
The next steps include forming collaborative research groups around specific action topics hereby identified, engaging with standards bodies, and pursuing funding for open-access infrastructure and research activities to enable regulatory alignment and support product safety evaluations.
