The UPshot: What do cells eat?

Like all great recipes, the quality of the ingredients matters.

First, from a single cell sample, we carefully select cells that meet our criteria. We’re looking for cells with a strong “metabolic profile” (essentially, how efficiently they convert nutrients into energy), consistent growth rate, and their ability to make exact copies of themselves. This is the foundation not only for consistent product, but also means we won’t need to go back to the animal.

Second, the real game changer – “the secret sauce,” if you will – is the cell feed: a super nutritious broth that feeds the cells. Unlike some other cultivated meat companies who are buying cell feed “off the shelf” (which is an option, because cell feed is used in pharmaceuticals), UPSIDE has a team dedicated to designing and producing our own custom cell feed in-house. This means we not only have a LOT more control over things like ingredients and cost, but it also allows us to test new cell feed recipes much faster. We’ve learned an incredible amount about what our cells need to grow!

What cells need to survive and thrive is the same no matter whether they’re growing inside an animal or in one of our cultivators. The main difference is that in an animal, the animal’s digestive system breaks down food into its constituent parts before blood carries these nutrients to cells. In our process, we feed the cells these individual parts directly (as there’s no digestive system or blood involved). These parts include: 

• Pure Water: This ingredient gets into the quality control aspect of growing cells outside of their natural environment.  Ultra-filtered water is essential for growing cells in a controlled environment free of contaminants. 
• Amino Acids: Think of amino acids as the building blocks of proteins.  Proteins are more for just bulking up (ie: structure). These “type A” acids  have thousands of jobs to do such as turning genes on and off in the cell, detoxifying reactive products in cells, and impacting immunity and metabolism. 
• Vitamins: The cell’s trusty sidekicks, making sure enzymes (one type of protein) get their jobs done. Whether it’s speeding up reactions or ensuring smooth cell operations, vitamins are the unsung heroes keeping cells in tip-top shape. What happens if vitamins aren’t around in the cell? Bad things: decreased cell growth, and even sometimes cell death. So bring on those A, C, D, E vitamins – and how could we forget all the B’s? 
• Glucose: Almost every energy process in an animal is powered by ATP, aka rolls-right-off-your-tongue “adenosine triphosphate”. No glucose? Then cells are running on empty, getting hangry, and unable to grow or do their cellular thing. Without glucose and oxygen, there’s no ATP, and with no ATP the cells simply refuse to go to work. 
• Inorganic Salts: These minerals are the cell’s hydration managers, making sure everything stays balanced and fluids are flowing in all the right ways. After all, no one wants a bunch of cells exploding because they can’t manage their fluids. These managers are the salty crew made up of potassium, calcium and magnesium, the same types of ingredients that have been making your breakfast great for a long time! 
• Oxygen: And last but not least: the cozy growing home these players live in has got to have oxygen. Without oxygen, there is no magic to be had.

Besides the essentials cells need to grow, one of the biggest ingredients in the cell feed for our next-generation products might just be what’s not in it. In other industries that use cell culture, like biotech and pharmaceuticals, it’s common to utilize animal-derived ingredients such as fetal bovine serum (FBS) in the cell feed. As we look to the future, there are a few issues with this:

1. It goes against our mission of eliminating slaughter from our products
2. It’s a drain on finances (these animal-derived components are expensive, one reactor would run up to 2MM in value grade serum!)
3. It’s challenging to scale

We’re incredibly proud that in 2021, we developed a 100% animal component-free cell feed. We are working use it in all future products so that we’re able to grow our cells in a way that drives forward our mission of a more humane and sustainable way to eat meat.

The team that develops the cell feed collaborates with multiple groups to keep the cells growing and happy, because as our technical lead and Associate Director Dr. Cameron Copeland says, “happy cells make tastier meat.”

When the cells are in the tank, the cell feed is delivered at the time they need it most at their current growth cycle. This means the cells don’t gorge themselves (what happens when the media is too tasty and too abundant) or go hungry.

Multiplying cells is the name of the game. When scientists at UPSIDE Foods are evaluating whether their latest cell feed recipe is a hit, they’re assessing the yield of the batch (meaning how many cells are produced), the doubling time (how quickly the cells multiply), and that their growth is consistent (ie: doesn’t taper off after a few days).

After the cells are harvested and passed off to food processing, this is when we’re able to assess the art behind the science: how does all the research, analysis, data, and problem-solving evolve into taste? 

When it comes to developing a new cell feed recipe, we’re constantly optimizing to make improvements on all of the above!

Crafting our cell feed involves not just science, but also significant scaling. Many of the essential ingredients we rely on to nourish our cells simply aren’t yet available at the volumes necessary for widespread commercial production. This challenge is part of our innovation journey, requiring us to pioneer new solutions and partnerships to bring our cultivated meat as an option for everyone.

Did you know that each cell line has different nutritional demands? Just like the animal, cells coming from chicken, beef, and cows, all require their own independently designed cell feed. The big factor here is the rate cells process nutrients. Ever wonder why some people can eat a diet high in fat and sugar and never gain a pound while others need to put in the hours at the gym? Turns out individual cells vary in the same way when it comes to metabolic pathways.

So what does all this variation have to do with the development of an UPSIDE product?

It means that even if we perfect the process for chicken, we have to evolve this process for other species like beef as we look to the future.

Building the menu for our cells is no fast food fare! Luckily, leaning on ingenuity, UPSIDE continues to refine the recipes with the goal of someday crafting the best meat you’ve ever tasted!