IntegriCulture Inc. claims to have performed the first successful cultivation of chicken and duck liver-derived cells in an animal serum-free basal medium. Using the company’s proprietary CulNet system the cost has been estimated to be just 1/60th compared to when using a conventional animal serum.
IntegriCulture claims to have successfully replaced all research-grade materials with food materials to achieve functional equivalence at such a reduced cost. The Japanese biotech also claims to be the first in the world to implement a cell culture with a serum-free basal medium. The CulNet system, which emulates natural inter-organ interactions, is key to recent developments.
Animal serum, normally used as a medium to cultivate cells for meat, is prohibitively expensive and comes with its own ethical issues. The CulNet system developed by IntegriCulture produces serum components without animals and uses them for cell cultivation.
Cultivated foie gras
IntergriCulture is now aiming to launch a cultivated foie gras this year as its first line of cell-cultured meat products. The company recently raised $7 million in Series A-plus funding to develop its affordable growth media and other tech solutions for the cellular agriculture sector.
“IntegriCulture is the first to implement cell culture by serum-free basal medium that cell-cultured meat producers around the world are working on. There is a wide range of potential industrial applications in cell cultivation such as cosmetics, leather, pharmaceuticals, and others. The applicability of CulNet system extends beyond poultry, including mammals, fish, crustaceans, insects, and so on,” explained IntegriCulture in a statement.