Spontaneous immortalization of chicken fibroblasts generates stable, high-yield cell lines for serum-free production of cultured meat

Cellular agriculture could meet growing demand for animal products, but yields are typically low and regulatory bodies restrict genetic modification for cultured meat production. Here we demonstrate the spontaneous immortalization and genetic stability of fibroblasts derived from several chicken breeds. Cell lines were adapted to grow as single-cell suspensions using serum-free culture medium, reaching densities of 108 × 10⁶ cells per ml in continuous culture, corresponding to yields of 36% w/v. We show that lecithin activates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), inducing adipogenesis in immortalized fibroblasts. Blending cultured adipocyte-like cells with extruded soy protein, formed chicken strips in which texture was supported by animal and plant proteins while aroma and flavour were driven by cultured animal fat. Visual and sensory analysis graded the product 4.5/5.0, with 85% of participants extremely likely to replace their food choice with this cultured meat product. Immortalization without genetic modification and high-yield manufacturing are critical for the market realization of cultured meat.

A New Statistical Approach to Predicting Aromatic Hydroxylation Sites. Comparison with Model-Based Approaches

A new approach is described that is able to predict the most probable metabolic sites on the basis of a statistical analysis of various metabolic transformations reported in the literature. The approach is applied to the prediction of aromatic hydroxylation sites for diverse sets of substrates. Training is performed using the aromatic hydroxylation reactions from the Metabolism database (Accelrys). Validation is carried out on heterogeneous sets of aromatic compounds reported in the Metabolite database (MDL). The average accuracy of prediction of experimentally observed hydroxylation sites estimated for 1552 substrates from Metabolite is 84.5%. The proposed approach is compared with two electronic models for P450 mediated aromatic hydroxylation: the oxenoid model using the atomic oxygen and the model using the methoxy radical as a model for the heme active oxygen species. For benzene derivatives, the proposed method is inferior to the oxenoid model and as accurate as the methoxy-radical model. For hetero- and polycyclic compounds, the oxenoid model is not applicable, and the statistical method is the most accurate. Broad applicability and high speed of calculations provide the basis for using the proposed statistical approach for high-throughput metabolism prediction in the early stages of drug discovery.