The country’s first project to research on cell-based meat, also called clean meat, would be taken up at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) deciding to give ₹4.5 crore for the two-year work as the initial grant.
The National Research Centre on Meat, which has a unit at Chengicherla abattoir here, would partner with the CCMB in the pioneering work to develop cultured meat, which is said to be equivalent to conventional animal meat in terms of taste and feel, with the only difference being in the method of production.
Clean meat would be produced through cellular agriculture with cells sourced from animals and cultivated into meat. Hence, it promises to revolutionise the food system by providing protein without harming the environment, said CCMB Director Rakesh Mehra here on Thursday.
“The cell-based meat production is scalable and the DBT funding is a major initiative by any government body across the world,” he said and pointed out that the funding has come almost a year after the CCMB, in association with the Humane Society International (HSI) and Good Food Institute (GFI), held the first-ever meet to discuss clean meat last year.
The Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) of the CCMB has been partnering with the HSI to develop and promote the clean meat sector. “Our aim is to be feed 10 billion people globally by 2050 by creating a platform for tasty, affordable protein,” said GFI MD Varun Deshpande.
The AIC and HSI have also announced the launch of ‘Centre for Predictive Human Model System’ (CPHMS), which would be dedicated for promoting the new approach of scientific research using non-animal models. The facility would propagate non-animal methodologies in life sciences research in India as it has been happening in the West.
It would be involved in developing a scientific and policy framework on the advanced non-animal science since it is still at a nascent stage here, said AIC CEO Madhusudan Rao, deputy director of HSI/India Alokparna Sengupta, and her colleague Jaisimha at a press conference on Thursday.
Though animal testing for research has been in practice for decades, science has progressed in using computational and in-vitro models, which are resource-friendly and come at a lower cost, besides being accurate at predicting human outcomes, they explained.
The fledgling centre would facilitate training courses in research, conduct workshops, offer fellowship programmes, develop a network of scientists to promote the paradigm shift in research and funding, and support Ph.D students in their research.
“This sector of predictive human biology is ripe for investment and the CPHMS is a natural alignment to our objective of supporting innovations,” said Dr. Rao. “We want this to be the pioneer in promoting ethical, advanced and reliable science,” said Ms. Sengupta.