Temasek Polytechnic students get involved in food of the future – cultivated meat
The TL;DR: Singapore’s first student society that promotes cultivated food products is based at Temasek Polytechnic. Some of its pioneer members are already doing the actual work of growing cell-based meat.
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Launched on Oct 14, the society is Singapore’s first student society whose members endeavour to raise awareness about cultivated meat among younger generations.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NATASHA NYAN, LECIA LIM
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Young people can learn more about cultivated meat and seafood, as well as spread the news about the future of food, when they join the Asia-Pacific Society for Cellular Agriculture (APAC-SCA) Student Chapter, based at Temasek Polytechnic (TP).
Cultivated meat – also called cell-based or cultured meat – is made by harvesting cells from live animals. The cells are fed with nutrients and grown in a bioreactor into a product consumers can eat.
Launched on Oct 14, the society is Singapore’s first student society whose members endeavour to raise awareness about cultivated meat among younger generations.
It was founded by the APAC-SCA, a collective working to advance the production of animal-based products from cell cultures, and TP.
Starting with 14 members who are TP students, APAC-SCA (Student Chapter) will participate in public events and create materials to promote cultivated meat and seafood.
Three of the pioneer members have worked on cultivated meat projects as part of their studies.
Growing cells like taking care of a baby
Students: Clarice Chua and Natasha Nyan, both 19, from TP’s School of Applied Science
Course: Diploma in Medical Biotechnology
Project: Optimisation of mammalian stem cell growth in benchtop bioreactors
(From left) Students Clarice Chua, Natasha Nyan and Lecia Lim at the launch of the Asia-Pacific Society for Cellular Agriculture (Student Chapter) at Temasek Polytechnic on Oct 14. They are pictured with a bioreactor, a controlled environment to grow cells for cultivated meat.
ST PHOTO: CHARLOTE WONG
What it’s about: As slow cell growth poses a problem for the production of large quantities of cultivated meat, Ms Clarice Chua and Ms Natasha Nyan set out to find ways to optimise cell growth in a bioreactor.
A bioreactor is a container that provides a suitable environment for cells to grow and divide until the required amount is reached before harvesting.
Finding that the bioreactor they used was unreliable, Ms Nyan tried using different types of scaffolds to support cell growth, including plant-based and bioink scaffolds.
They learnt to culture cells in a solution with nutrients for growth – called the media – and to troubleshoot problems caused by contamination.
Said Ms Nyan: “It’s like taking care of my own baby. I have to constantly check in on it, ensure it receives enough nutrients and has a suitable environment to grow.”
The students worked in a soundproof cleanroom, which is a controlled environment that helps prevent contamination during cell culturing.
Ms Clarice Chua and Ms Natasha Nyan’s setup of the biosafety cabinet for the culturing of cells.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NATASHA NYAN
As only two people are permitted in the inner room, they devised ways to communicate with those who were outside.
Said Ms Chua: “We had to help each other and think on the spot when we encountered issues... If not, we would risk contaminating the cell culture and compromising the entire operation.”
Through trial and error, they tested factors such as temperature, speed of rotation to mix the media and speed at which the media is pumped into the bioreactor.
Currently, the students are testing other bioreactors and exploring different ways to speed up the rate of production of cultured meat.
Homemade spicy sardine puff made by Ms Natasha Nyan and her team in TP using plant-based meat.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NATASHA NYAN
Noting that it is easier to alter the taste and texture of plant-based fish, Ms Nyan also moved on to experiment with various cooking methods.
After culturing rainbow trout gill cells, she used the fish fillet as a scaffold to grow them.
Realising that the fillet was not ready for consumption, she set out to make a better scaffold of their own, developing a concoction of edible bioink, a mixture of gums that can be commonly found in kitchens.
Sweet and sour fish fillet made by Ms Natasha Nyan and her team in TP using plant-based meat.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NATASHA NYAN
What this means for consumers: The data they collected is part of an ongoing project at TP that could lead to cheaper prices and a greater variety of meat and proteins to eat, with less reliance on traditional meat sources such as farm animals.
The option to eat meat that is greener and slaughter-free could be more affordable for Singapore in the future.
Stepping out of her comfort zone to learn
Student: Lecia Lim, 19, from TP’s School of Applied Science
Course: Diploma in Food, Nutrition & Culinary Science
Project: Hybrid product of plant-based ingredients and cultivated fish cells
Lecia Lim and a research assistant analysing the performance of a bioreactor test. During her internship with Fisheroo, she learnt the skills and technology needed for her current project.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF LECIA LIM
What it’s about: Ms Lecia Lim is currently working to create a food product that combines plant-based protein with cultivated meat to enhance the meat’s taste.
Although she does not study biotechnology in TP, she is interested in understanding the development of novel food, such as cell-cultured and plant-based meat.
For her internship, she worked at Fisheroo, a cell-based fish company.
Now, she is doing her final-year project under the joint supervision of Dr James Lim, lecturer and researcher in Future Foods Domain at the School of Applied Science in TP, and Mr Aaron Chua, chief executive of Fisheroo.
When she raised the idea to Mr Chua that she wanted to make food from cells for her project, she did it jokingly.
But Mr Chua said: “Why not?”, and Dr Lim, who is the current board adviser of APAC-SCA (Student Chapter), approved it.
Ms Lim is working on the project with two of her coursemates, who knew even less about cellular agriculture than she did when they started work on the project.
“I learnt how to share my knowledge and experience with others and give them advice. So I guess I became their own personal lecturer,” said Ms Lim, who has successfully submitted her project proposal to her supervisors, and will be entering the experimenting stage.
Ms Lim will be taking Future Food Biotechnology, a specialised elective, during her final semester at TP, because of her interest in cultivated meats. The elective is open to all applied science students in Year 3.
What this means for consumers: Hybrid cultivated meat is a combination of cultivated meat and plant-based protein, such as soy and peas.
Hybrid cultivated meat could be a more cost-friendly alternative in the future, with easily accessible plant-based proteins being used and less cultivated meat cells needed. Eventually, its taste could also be improved.
To increase its consumer acceptance, Ms Lim hopes to produce proof that hybrid cultivated meat has similar taste and texture to conventional meat.
