Greenhero
#20 – Cultivating salmon in the lab w/ Senior Scientist of Wildtype Alexandr Samocha
Today’s guest on the Greenhero Podcast is Alexandr Samocha, Senior Scientist at Wildtype, a cell-based company. There, Alexandr works at the intersection of novel cell line development, molecular biology, and large-scale cultivation to build toward the future of food. His current focus is to cultivate the most sustainable salmon on Earth.
Cell-based food can be a ‘wild’ concept to wrap our heads around, but Alexandr explains it plainly as a process of taking a sample of tissue (in this case, salmon) and isolating cells, working to help those cells grow faster and cheaper with the same nutrients as a traditional salmon cell. In doing so, these cells can grow forever in tank-like cultivators, completely outside of the animal. From there, they can mix those cells with scaffolding from plant cells to produce a 3D tissue structure. A tissue sample of a juvenile salmon the size of a pinky could (and does) produce 100’s of thousands of pounds of salmon.
These cells create cell-lines, which are immortalized through the same nutrient feeds of fats, sugars, minerals, and everything else that an animal would need. They go through a process of determining the health of the cells to push the limits of each line.
Developing the texture and structure of salmon is something Alexandr and his colleagues take pride in. Their cultivated salmon utilizes the plant-cell scaffolding as a guide in how to grow. The cells divide and multiply and mature the same way a conventional salmon would. It's the same fat content. It's the same proteins, it's the same nutritional profile, and it gives the same texture.
Building a vocabulary presents an interesting challenge for cell-based food providers like Wildtype. Understanding the public’s perception requires careful attention to how the product is marketed. “Cultivate” indicates and demonstrates that they’ve put intentional effort and attention into building and growing something for consumption. In the end, the cultivated salmon IS salmon, and can provide a product that is easier to track and is a cleaner, healthier option.
Both farmed and commercially fished salmon are not sustainable and present a huge environmental impact. In cultivating salmon, the footprint is shrunk. In large fermenters (much like a beer tank), ranging from 50 to 1000’s of liters, cells are grown with nutrient feed, then condensed into smaller vessels where they incubate.
Things You’ll Learn
A tissue sample of a juvenile salmon the size of a pinky could (and does) produce 100’s of thousands of pounds of salmon.
Wildtype’s cultivated salmon utilizes the plant-cell scaffolding as a guide in how to grow. The cells divide and multiply and mature the same way a conventional salmon would.
In the end, the cultivated salmon IS salmon, and can provide a product that is easier to track and is a cleaner, healthier option.
LINKS
Join the waitlist to try Wildtypes cultivated salmon:
https://www.wildtypefoods.com/
@WildtypeFoods
Today’s guest on the Greenhero Podcast is Alexandr Samocha, Senior Scientist at Wildtype, a cell-based company. There, Alexandr works at the intersection of novel cell line development, molecular biology, and large-scale cultivation to build toward the future of food. His current focus is to cultivate the most sustainable salmon on Earth.
Cell-based food can be a ‘wild’ concept to wrap our heads around, but Alexandr explains it plainly as a process of taking a sample of tissue (in this case, salmon) and isolating cells, working to help those cells grow faster and cheaper with the same nutrients as a traditional salmon cell. In doing so, these cells can grow forever in tank-like cultivators, completely outside of the animal. From there, they can mix those cells with scaffolding from plant cells to produce a 3D tissue structure. A tissue sample of a juvenile salmon the size of a pinky could (and does) produce 100’s of thousands of pounds of salmon.
These cells create cell-lines, which are immortalized through the same nutrient feeds of fats, sugars, minerals, and everything else that an animal would need. They go through a process of determining the health of the cells to push the limits of each line.
Developing the texture and structure of salmon is something Alexandr and his colleagues take pride in. Their cultivated salmon utilizes the plant-cell scaffolding as a guide in how to grow. The cells divide and multiply and mature the same way a conventional salmon would. It's the same fat content. It's the same proteins, it's the same nutritional profile, and it gives the same texture.
Building a vocabulary presents an interesting challenge for cell-based food providers like Wildtype. Understanding the public’s perception requires careful attention to how the product is marketed. “Cultivate” indicates and demonstrates that they’ve put intentional effort and attention into building and growing something for consumption. In the end, the cultivated salmon IS salmon, and can provide a product that is easier to track and is a cleaner, healthier option.
Both farmed and commercially fished salmon are not sustainable and present a huge environmental impact. In cultivating salmon, the footprint is shrunk. In large fermenters (much like a beer tank), ranging from 50 to 1000’s of liters, cells are grown with nutrient feed, then condensed into smaller vessels where they incubate.
Things You’ll Learn
A tissue sample of a juvenile salmon the size of a pinky could (and does) produce 100’s of thousands of pounds of salmon.
Wildtype’s cultivated salmon utilizes the plant-cell scaffolding as a guide in how to grow. The cells divide and multiply and mature the same way a conventional salmon would.
In the end, the cultivated salmon IS salmon, and can provide a product that is easier to track and is a cleaner, healthier option.
LINKS
Join the waitlist to try Wildtypes cultivated salmon:
https://www.wildtypefoods.com/
@WildtypeFoods