CMSI Phase III: Precompetitive Collaboration on Safety Research & Methods Development
Collaboratively planning and executing cultured meat safety research.
2023 - Ongoing
CALL TO ACTION
Applications are open for individuals seeking to work on cultured meat safety and have expertise in either cultured meat or food safety.
Join our upcoming NSF- and USDA-funded Working Sessions: Developing a Cultured Meat Safety Research Action Plan, which will be held June 4, 2025 in Chicago, IL.
Experts and researchers in food safety, toxicology, biomanufacturing, cell biology, food science, and other related fields are encouraged to apply.
Prior experience in cultured meat safety research is not required to participate in the working sessions.
CMSI PHASE III
Overview
To advance cellular agriculture for the public good, it is critical to create public information to guide evidence-based policymaking and regulatory decisions.
In Phase I, we answered the question “how is cultured meat made?” in the most inclusive and collaborative way possible.
In Phase II, we gathered insight from the scientists and decision-makers within regulatory bodies tasked with performing safety assessments of these novel food products.
In Phase III, we aim to convene diverse stakeholders to create the infrastructure for shared knowledge, methods, and data that address the priorities identified in Phase I and II.
Our long-term goal is to coordinate and launch regional efforts to develop and validate analytical methods for CM safety analysis and use these methods to generate datasets that can be made publicly available to support transparent food risk assessments and policy-making processes.
CMSI PHASE III
Outcomes
A series of working sessions are being held throughout 2024 - 2025 on Developing an Action Plan for Cultured Meat Safety Research.
Information for applicants can be found below.
Collaborative safety research projects are being launched to demonstrate the safety of cultured meat and seafood products.
Details on these projects can be found below.
CMSI PHASE III
Working Sessions: Developing a Cultured Meat Safety Research Action Plan
Information for Applicants
About
These working sessions will bring together researchers to form collaborations and develop actionable plans to advance research and methods on cultured meat and seafood safety. Discussion topics will include: cells, inputs, adventitious agents, final products, and manufacturing practices.
The working sessions are intended for industry professionals, researchers, regulators, and other stakeholders interested in actively working on or advising cultured meat and seafood safety research and methods development. We are looking for experts and researchers in food safety, toxicology, biomanufacturing, cell biology, food science, and other related fields! Prior experience at the intersection of cultured meat and food safety research is not required, but technical expertise in a relevant subject area is highly encouraged. Please refrain from signing up if you’ll just be observing – you’ll get to read the outcomes in the report afterward!
How to join
Due to limited space, interested participants are asked to apply to participate in a working session. Applications will be notified of the status at least 1 month prior to the working session. Application links for each session are below.
Working session dates, locations, and application forms
Three sessions will be held throughout 2024-2025. Each session will be 1 day, including lunch and coffee, followed by a networking session.
January 12, 2024 – Boston, Massachusets: Co-sponsored and hosted by the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA). Read the outcomes of this session!
December 12, 2024 – Austin, Texas: Co-sponsored by and co-located with the Society for Risk Analysis Annual Meeting. Thank you to everyone to joined! A report on the outcomes of this session will be posted soon.
March 12, 2025 – San Francisco, California: With in-kind support from Wildtype and the University of California Davis Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein (iCAMP) during the week of Future Food-Tech San Francisco (March 13-14). Thank you to everyone who joined! A report on the outcomes of this session will be posted soon.
June 4, 2025 – Chicago, IL: With in-kind support from Perkins Coie during the week of Future Food-Tech Chicago (June 2-3). Apply for this session here!
Additional session dates and locations to be announced! To indicate interest in attending a future session, fill out this form.
What to expect at the working sessions
The working session will include a brief introduction on the current state of safety demonstration followed by discussions aimed at identifying needs (e.g., materials, knowledge, equipment, funding, partnerships) and frameworks for collaboration (e.g. structures, IP protections) for conducting research on participant-selected safety questions. Focus areas for safety research include cells, inputs, adventitious agents, final products, and manufacturing practices. The outcome of the working session will be an action plan for collaborative research to accelerate safety demonstrations for the whole field and an opportunity to get more involved in this work.
The working session will be held under Chatham House rules (the information may be shared, but neither the identity nor affiliation of the speakers may be revealed). The results of the working session will be shared openly in the form of a manuscript or white paper outlining these outcomes while protecting IP concerns of participants.
Lunch and coffee will be provided. A networking hour will be hosted after the working session.
Travel Support
Travel support is available for a limited number of participants, with priority for early career and underrepresented researchers. If you require travel support, indicate this on the application form. Participants will be notified about travel support at least 1 month prior to the working session.
Funders & Supporters
Financial support for this working session series was provided by the US National Science Foundation (Grant No. 2417703) and the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (AFRI project 2024-07959). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.
In kind support has generously been provided by The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA), Wildtype, the University of California Davis Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein (iCAMP), and Perkins Coie.
ONGOING RESEARCH PROJECTS
Collaborative Safety Research Projects
The following research projects were launched as part of the Cultured Meat Safety Initiative.
Methods Development for Measuring Growth Factors
Oct 2023 - Ongoing
Growth factors are a key input in cultured meat production due to their roles in controlling cell proliferation and differentiation. Currently, the lack of standardized methods for measuring growth factors slows safety demonstration and regulatory review. A collaboration between Vireo Advisors, Multus, Aberytswyth University in Wales, Extracellular, and the British Standards Institute, this project aims to develop and validate analytical methods for reliably measuring growth factors that can be used to estimate exposure levels when consumed in cultured meat and seafood products.
Safety-Assessed Media Ingredient (SAMI) List
May 2024 - Ongoing
A collaborative project between Vireo Advisors, Good Food Institute APAC, and Singapore FRESH at National Technical University, this project aims to develop a Safety Assessed Media Ingredient (SAMI) List of commonly used media ingredients for cultured meat and seafood. The list includes nutrients that animals and fish produce and consume, such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and growth factors, and a safety assessment independent of regulatory considerations intended to be harmonized across regions as a first-level screening to reduce the level of effort for companies and regulatory reviewers. The SAMI list also aims to help companies screen products for residue levels of these ingredients in media formulations without having to undergo a new assessment and approval process.
Creating a Protein Thermostability Dataset to Accelerate Cultured Meat and Seafood Development
Jan 2025 - Ongoing
New Harvest, Vireo Advisors, the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, and Defined Bioscience are collaborating to create an open-source, curated dataset that incorporates direct measurements of growth factor thermostability. We are aggregating protein thermostability data from the public domain and generating in vitro and in silico data on growth factor thermostability. Data will be processed for compatibility with AI/ML workflows and released in an open-source format, facilitating field-wide data-sharing and providing a foundation for developing AI/ML models for growth factor thermostability to understand the safety of their use in the production of cultured meat. Funding for this work is provided by Food Systems Innovation.
CMSI PHASE III
Progress Timeline
CMSI Phase III - Precompetitive Collaboration on Safety Research & Methods Development
Oct 2024 – New Harvest and Vireo Advisors kick off Phase III with a cultured meat safety working session series, with financial support from the US National Science Foundation (Grant No. 2417703) and the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (AFRI project 2024-07959). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.
Jan 2024 – First working session in Boston, MA, co-sponsored and hosted by the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA). Notes from this session are captured here.
May 2024 - New project launches out of CMSI: Safety Assessed Media Ingredient (SAMI) List, a collaboration among Vireo Advisors, Good Food Institute APAC, and Singapore FRESH at National Technical University
Dec 2024 – Second working session in Austin, TX, co-sponsored by and co-located with the Society for Risk Analysis Annual Meeting.
Jan 2025 - New project launches out of CMSI: Creating a Protein Thermostability Dataset to Accelerate Cultured Meat and Seafood Development. New Harvest, Vireo Advisors, the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, and Defined Bioscience are collaborating to create an open-source, curated dataset that incorporates direct measurements of growth factor thermostability. Funding for this work is provided by Food Systems Innovation.
Mar 2025 – Third working session in San Francisco, CA, with in-kind support from Wildtype and the University of California Davis Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein (iCAMP).
Jun 2025 – Fourth working session in Chicago, IL: with in-kind support from Perkins Coie
Contact
If you have questions or would like to get in touch regarding CMSI, please contact Bre Duffy at breanna@new-harvest.org