Several stakeholders representing South Korea‘s cultivated meat industry, including manufacturers, universities and several city and provincial governments, have signed an MoU to advance cellular agriculture.
The agreement was initiated by South Korea’s North Gyeongsang Province and signed by 28 stakeholders, including city governments, universities, research and technology institutions and companies. The companies include cultured meat startup TissenBioFarm, food manufacturer Ildong Foodis and functional food ingredient developer Neo-Cremar.
TissenBioFarm is working closely with POSTECH, North Gyeongsang Province, Pohang City and Uiseong Provincial Government to make the region a pioneer in cellular agriculture.
Regulation-free zone
The new cluster will focus on cellular agriculture research in southern South Korea. The MOU calls for the development of a regulation-free zone in Uiseong where companies can demonstrate proof-of-concept concepts. Uiseong will build an industrial complex with facilities ideal for research and production of cultivated meat, it says.
In Pohang, which already has an established biotech infrastructure, the city will establish a test region for research and development, prototyping and production certification that can support the commercialization of cultured meat and artificial organs.
At Yeungnum University in the city of Gyeongsan, an international cell culture research facility will research culture media, equipment and systems for cultured meat development. The city of Gumi will also develop a strategic base for promoting cultivated meat. Spokespersons for the city say it will establish a branch of the Korea Food Research Institute to support food industrialization.
“We are working on breakthrough technologies to address the biggest challenges in cultured meat,” Wonil Han, CEO of TissenBioFarm, said in a statement. “This is how South Korea can become a global pioneer in this field.”
For more information, visit: unikorea.go.kr/eng
