Adding to the various uses of the tobacco plants, an Israeli startup developed a way to use tobacco plants to help grow meat. Photo: Alexander Seleznyov/Reuters
An Israeli startup uses tobacco plants to help in the production of cultivated meat that is grown from animal muscle cells in a lab.
According to a Reuters report, BioBetter uses tobacco plants to produce so-called meat cell growth factors, which are difficult to produce and present an obstacle to large-scale lab meat manufacturing. Currently the growth factors are insulin and transferrin collected from livestock, making it difficult to source large quantities. Another method produces them by fermentation of yeast or bacteria, but this involves a complicated purification process and expensive facilities.
BioBetter co-founder Dana Yarden said, "The Good Food Institute determined that approximately a 100-fold reduction in insulin and transferrin costs is required to make cultivated meat economically viable.”
BioBetter inserts relevant gene sequences into tobacco cells by using a technology called recombinant DNA to “teach” them to produce the meat cell growth factors. The technology is also used in other areas such as medical insulin production.
BioBetter c.e.o., Amit Yaari, said tobacco was chosen for this important role as it can reach up to four growth cycles annually, can be harvested all year, and cannot be used as food due to its bitter taste. He went on to say, "The global trend for reducing tobacco smoking is raising concerns among tobacco growers that the crop might eventually become obsolete. Yet the tobacco plant has huge potential to become a key component in the future of food.”