New food technologies: addressing challenges at food systems level

By 2050, the global population is expected to reach close to 10 billion people, increasing the demand for food. To ensure sustainability in food production to meet this population increase, alternative approaches such as reducing meat consumption and incorporating plant-based alternatives are being explored. Cellular agriculture, an interdisciplinary field merging engineering and biology offers a potential solution. This approach involves the isolation and modification of animal cells for food production, using techniques like genetic engineering and creating cell-biomaterial interfaces. This approach has the potential to provide sustainable and nutritious meat and dairy alternatives while reducing environmental impact. However, challenges such as achieving the same nutritional quality and texture as animal-based products and addressing issues related to scale-up as well as costs pose barriers to commercialization. Despite these challenges, cellular agriculture has progressed rapidly and shows promise in meeting the changing demands of consumers and ensuring food security in the future.