This technology involves extracting serum or plasma from blood discarded during the slaughter of cattle, pigs, or chickens, then decolorizing and filtering it to create a medium additive for culturing muscle satellite cells. This additive is mixed into serum-free media to promote the proliferation and differentiation of muscle satellite cells.
Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS), the most critical component for cultured meat, is obtained from the fetuses of slaughtered pregnant cows, raising ethical concerns, supply instability, and high costs. While serum-free media have been used as an alternative, they often result in significantly slower cell division and growth rates, and other alternatives, such as marine-based materials, have uncertain potential for mass-market application.
The process involves mixing serum or plasma with kaolin to decolorize it at 50–70°C, pre-filtering it through 2–25μm filters, followed by filtration through a 0.05–0.3μm membrane filter and low-temperature sterilization. The final additive is used by adding 1–20 parts by weight to 100 parts of serum-free medium, along with antibiotics and antifungals, allowing for either a complete replacement of FBS or partial use. Applicable to cultured meat production, startup medium procurement, and value-added processing of slaughterhouse byproducts, this method reduces reliance on expensive fetal serum and turns waste blood into a revenue stream.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for the development of optimal muscle tissue engineering and mass production systems for cultured meat.
US2025-0002859A1, WO2023-096190A1
