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REVIEW

From Cell Line to Fillet: A Review of Biological and Engineering Strategies in Cultivated Seafood

Cultivated seafood production was reviewed as a possible alternative to farmed and wild-caught fish. The authors examined biological and engineering barriers to scale-up, alongside potential solutions from tissue engineering and industrial and academic research. Key obstacles include difficulty adapting species-specific cells to suspended growth in bioreactors, limited scaffold options, and inadequate methods for forming products at scale. They conclude that systems must account for differences among cell types, while scaffold materials must be edible and suitable for regulatory and consumer requirements.

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Kinetic phenotyping of Fusarium venenatum A3/5 across waste-relevant carbon substrates

Fusarium venenatum A3/5 used waste-relevant carbon sources in markedly different ways, affecting feedstock choices for mycoprotein production. Researchers combined microlitre cultures, optical-density calibration, UHPLC time series and Gompertz models. Glucose and sucrose enabled fast growth but produced low biomass yields and substantial ethanol. Fructose gave the highest yield, at 0.49 g/g, while lactose consumption reached only 34% after 234.5 hours. An expired functional drink produced 18.37 g/L biomass, versus 12.49 g/L for a matched synthetic control. Beverage waste was the strongest tested feedstock, but evidence covers one real waste stream.

Science digest

Toward Rational Design of Precision-Fermented Milk Proteins: Integrating Cross-Species Selection, Post-Translational Modification, and AI Optimization.

A review maps how milk proteins from humans, cows, goats and camels could be chosen and made through precision fermentation, addressing design gaps in target selection and protein processing. It compares sequences, structures and post-production modifications, then assesses host engineering, scale-up, purification and AI methods. Human proteins suit infant nutrition and immune uses, while ruminant proteins fit current expression systems better. α-Lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin need fewer modifications than caseins and lactoferrin. AI cannot yet optimise yield, folding and modification accuracy together, leaving scale-up, glycoengineering and regulation unresolved.

Electrohydrodynamics and Fluid Dynamics

Electrosprayed edible microcarriers based on gelatin-coated alginate for muscle cell culture

Gelatin-coated alginate microcarriers supported muscle cell culture in static and agitated systems, suggesting an edible scaffold for cultivated meat production. Researchers electrosprayed spherical, 242 µm alginate particles, coated them with gelatin, and seeded them with mouse myoblasts and immortalised bovine satellite cells at two densities for seven days. Both cell types remained viable and proliferated under static conditions, with metabolic activity similar to 2D cultures. Agitation slightly reduced proliferation, but metabolic activity and carrier structure remained stable. The early shake-flask evidence warrants further scale-up testing.