Hardware Podcasts

Cultivated meat’s “trough of disillusionment”

Catalyst · 27 Feb 2025 · 41m

What this episode covers

Isha Datar, executive director of New Harvest and co-founder of Clara Foods and Perfect Day, explains that the cellular agriculture industry is in a 'trough of disillusionment' due to a lack of basic research and standardized biological tools. She argues that early startups failed by trying to replicate the vertically integrated meat industry rather than building a diverse biotech ecosystem, leading to unsustainable costs. Datar highlights that the path forward involves focusing on high-value ingredients like foie gras and sashimi, while advocating for shared research facilities and standardized cell banks to drive down costs and accelerate regulatory approval.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
New Harvest, Clara Foods, Perfect Day, Gourmet, Wild Type, Sigma Aldrich, FAO, NIH, USDA
Products
foie gras, salmon sashimi
Materials
fetal bovine serum

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