Seaweed, a start-up for developing seaweed-based cultured meat, succeeded in developing customized Korean beef cultured meat production technology. This is the result of the’Industrial Technology Alchymist Project’ supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy from 2020.
Seaweed has conducted this research with the joint research team of Chungnam National University, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, and Korea University of Agriculture and Fisheries with the aim of releasing commercially available cultured meat.
Existing cultured meats have been cited as problems such as texture, long cultivation time, and high production costs that are far from actual meat. Seaweed makes cell culture structures based on algae. This is designed to target the growth and differentiation of Korean beef muscle cells.When large-capacity Korean beef cells are planted in this structure and placed in a muscle cell differentiation equipment (bioreactor), tissue is formed in an environment similar to the inside of a living body, resulting in a texture similar to meat. I can do it. It can also be safely consumed as it is based on algae.
Seaweed was recognized for such technology, and it attracted initial investments from Blue Point Partners, a tech accelerator, and Inlite Ventures.
Korea University of Agriculture and Fisheries and Chungnam National University separated cells from the loin muscle of Korean beef calf to reduce the long culture time, and secured a base for cells with fast growth capacity using the big data of Korean cattle genome. In addition, the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, and Chungnam National University selected natural products harmless to the human body from the database to improve the taste and texture of cultured meat.
Through this, the production cost of cultured meat of 100,000 won or more per 100 grams can be reduced to the level of 2,000 won, which is expected to contribute to accelerated commercialization of cultured meat.
The Industrial Technology Alchymist Project is a business that supports the development of innovative technologies with potential in the mid- to long-term, beyond the framework of existing R&D that is conditional on success. It targets technologies that can create new markets and food for the future within the next 10 to 20 years. In particular, this study stands out as a result of collaboration between domestic startups and major research teams through the Industrial Technology Alchymist Project.
Hee-jae Lee, CEO of Seaweed, said, “The existing factory-style livestock industry is vulnerable to waterborne infectious diseases such as African swine fever and bird flu, is against animal ethics, and it is difficult to cope with the increase in meat demand due to the explosive population growth.” “We want to present a new solution to this problem by commercializing cultured meat by developing it.”
The Korean beef cultured meat, which is being developed by the joint research team, will be released for the first time at a tasting event in April, and will be presented to consumers through a pilot restaurant at the end of 2022.