About This Project

Realising large scale production of cultured meat will need a workforce with a range of skills in areas where only universities can provide training. Universities could play a key role in developing a cell ag industry; some already do. A mapping exercise will allow a systematic analysis of each UK university’s potential to become a cell ag anchor institution. It will guide students, academics, businesses and policymakers to those with most potential, and so support growth of cell ag in the UK.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

The non-profit organization Cellular Agriculture UK has spoken with cell ag companies in the UK and learnt that a key barrier to a flourishing cell ag industry is a lack of access to a pipeline of skilled students aware of the field and the opportunities it offers.

Cellular agriculture doesn’t feature on the curriculum at any UK university. Students may therefore be missing a major opportunity to become aware of cell ag as a career path, and to develop the relevant skills.

The value of universities as seeding grounds for regional innovation ecosystems is well-established. The nascent stage of cell ag in the UK makes them well placed to supply leadership and connectivity, and so progress the field.

What is the significance of this project?

Cell ag has huge potential to deliver benefits for the environment, human health, animal welfare and more.

Replacing traditional meat and dairy with their cell ag counterparts would result in far fewer greenhouse gases and vastly less land/water use. It would allow huge tracts of land used for animal feed to return to natural ecosystems, boosting biodiversity. We’d need few antibiotics and no factory farms.

Universities are key to support this transformative industry as anchor institutions, supplying skills and research, plus routes to finance and space for developing innovative products and services.

UK universities could become teaching/research hubs that accelerate development of cell ag, as is happening at Bath University, Technion Institute, Maastricht University and UC Davies.

What are the goals of the project?

We aim to answer this key question: which UK universities have most potential to be cell ag anchor institutions? This is important as efforts can then be targeted at these institutions, supporting them to be hubs that accelerate the industry.

We’ll interview key stakeholders, CEOs of start-ups and cell ag academics, to audit which skills the sector needs. We’ll then explore which factors feed into how institutions such as UC Davis have become thriving cell ag hubs.

This research will let us measure the potential of each UK university to become a hub for cell ag, and to create a nationwide map.

The map will help policymakers, academics, students or industry identify universities with the highest potential and enable focussed efforts in regions where there is best chance of success.