Student team tackling unsustainability of meat industry win Imperial competition

25 Oct 2019
A team of undergraduate students have developed a new technology to reduce the cost of lab-grown meat and help the industry become more sustainable.
By Joanna Wilson

A team of undergraduate students have developed a new technology to reduce the cost of lab-grown meat and help the industry become more sustainable.

 

Team MultusMedia scooped the top prize £7,000 in the Faculty of Natural Sciences Make a Difference Competition for their idea.

The team, made up of Cai Linton (Bioengineering), Evan Whooley (Life Sciences), Kevin Pan (Life Sciences) and Réka Trón (Life Sciences), are creating an enabling technology for the clean meat industry.

Cai Linton, co-founder of Multus Media working in the bio lab

Cai Linton, co-founder of Multus Media

Lab-grown meat, also known as clean or cultivated meat, works by taking stem cells from an animal and placing them in a nutrient-rich environment to encourage them to grow. This could offer a more ethical and environmentally sustainable alternative to traditional meats.

Currently the clean meat industry is doing this by growing meat produce in bioreactors, vessels that carry out biological reactions, instead of using animals. The growth medium used to encourage the cells to grow however is usually very expensive and is harvested from pregnant cows, therefore has both financial and ethical issues.

Reducing environmental effects

To tackle this the team are addressing one of the main barriers preventing this industry being economically viable – the growth medium used to nourish and grow the cells. While cultured meat has been around for a number of years, it is usually very expensive.

Evan Whooley pitching at the FoNS MAD final

Evan Whooley pitching at the FoNS MAD final

MultusMedia’s animal-free culture medium is based on genetically engineered yeast that produces mammalian cell growth factors. These are substances such as vitamins or hormones which are required for the stimulation of growth in living cells. Because they don’t use live animals, this means that they reduce their climate impact to near zero and keep their growth medium animal-free.

The team’s aim with the project is to bring down the cost of cultured meat and tackle the unsustainability of using livestock to produce meat – “we want to provide products people know and love, without the environmental impact,” the team said.

Impact on society

The FoNS-MAD competition tasks three teams of undergraduate students with developing low-cost technology solutions which will have an impact on society. From tackling battery recycling to using the gut microbiome to predict disease, this year’s participants are spent eight weeks turning their ideas into proof-of-concept prototypes.

Each team was been given lab-space, funding, and guidance from academic mentors as they competed for prizes of up to £6000. The VIP judges included Professor Lord Robert Winston, Professor Sir John Pendry, Dominique Kleyn, Dr Ruth Allan and Dr Allan Samuel.

The competition is open to all undergraduate students from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and to team members from other Faculties.

More from Hackspace

Discover what’s going on at the Hackspace.

Students show their prototypes in the workshop

Read our success stories

Students talk in the workshop with a Hack Fellow

Work with us

The electronics and digital manufacturing workshop at Hackspace

Our facilities

News

Catch up on the latest goings-on at Hackspace.

Imperial engineers work with local youth club to design and build e-scooters

Imperial engineers work with local youth club to design and build e-scooters

Imperial has been working with North Paddington Youth Club to build electric scooters alongside the College's engineers.

When Science and Art collide: White City Sculpture Challenge

When Science and Art collide: White City Sculpture Challenge

The 2022 Sculpture Challenge will provide students the opportunity to collaborate and bring their vision to reality, resulting in the winning sculpture having a permanent presence at the White City Campus.

Hackstarter programme launches to support Imperial’s student makers and creators

Hackstarter programme launches to support Imperial’s student makers and creators

Imperial College Advanced Hackspace launches Hackstarter to provide £500 prototype development grants.