How Does 3D Bioprinting Work for Cultivated meat?
You may have heard of 3D bioprinting as a concept used in modern food and medical innovations. Today, the cultivated meat industry is one of those sectors relying heavily on the concept of 3D bioprinting. In this article, we shall go on a journey to explore what 3D bioprinting is and how cell-based meat companies make use of it in their production methods.
What is 3D Bioprinting?
Mironov et al. defined biofabrication as "the production of complex living and non-living biological products from raw materials such as living cells, molecules, extracellular matrices, and biomaterials."
Bioprinting is therefore an industrial printing process for producing biological products such as living tissues in such a way that they take up the structure of the same biological material as it would be in a living organism.
The concept of 3D bioprinting is similar to that of traditional 3D printing. However, 3D bioprinting entails a more extensive and careful process and the materials being worked on are totally different. In 3D bioprinting, scientists work with biological raw materials to produce complex bioproducts such as tissue. Precision is of the essence here and scientists must be careful to avoid contamination.
3D bioprinting, though a relatively new concept, has vast uses in medicine and cellular food production. The technology may provide us with opportunities for more precise healthcare measures such as tissue, bone, and organ replacement in the nearest future.
How does 3D Bioprinting Work for Cell-Based Meat?
3D bioprinting is an integral part of lab-grown meat production. It is responsible for making laboratory-grown meat attain the structure, feel, and texture of natural meat. Without 3D printing, the appearance of cell-based meat after it is grown will be nothing close to what we know as meat, even though the taste may be close. 3D printing may also help to achieve precise meat forms such as steaks and burger fillings.
3D printing typically occurs at the later stage of cultured meat production, after the animal cells have been grown. Different cell-based meat companies utilize different 3D bioprinting techniques. However, the idea of the process is largely the same - the grown meat cells are transported into a 3D bioprinter. The bioprinter uses a 3D model of what the natural meat looks like to imprint the grown meat so that it takes the same structure as natural meat.
Recently, some cultivated meat companies have been able to develop 3D bioprinting technology that works like a matrix. The retrieved animal cells are then placed in this matrix where they grow directly into the needed meat structure.
While 3D printing is an essential part of the cultivated meat production process, it is not the last step of production. After structuring using a 3D model, the grown cells are further processed to incorporate the right amount of fat, muscle, and other proteins needed for the perfect meat taste.
Conclusion
Without 3D printing technology, cultivated meat will still be hundreds of miles away from achieving conventional meat features. Before now, scientists had to struggle with recreating the perfect structure for lab-grown meat. Today, however, there are several methods cell-based meat industries leverage on for creating 3D meat models that conform grown meat into the right structure.
