Exploring Stem Cells: A Brief Overview:
An animals body is made up of millions and millions of tiny cells. The stem cell is a specific type of cell that possess the unique ability to replicate itself and turn itself into a different type of cell altogether.
Let us now delve into the role these cells play in the domain of cultivated meat production.
Types of Stem Cells:
There are 3 main types of stem cells; Embryonic, Adult and Induced Pluripotent (iP).
- Embryonic Stem Cells: These cells are found in embryos. They have the ability to turn into any cell type in the body. However, the ethical and logistical challenges of sourcing embryonic stem cells impede their widespread application in cultivated meat production.
- Adult Stem Cells: Adult stem cells are can be looked at as specialized stem cells. They can only turn into cells confined to specific cellular lineages, such as skin or blood cells. While some cultivated meat companies are using adult stem, it remains a minority practice.
- iP Stem Cells: iP cells are ordinary cells that undergo a sophisticated laboratory transformation. This process turns these ordinary cells into stem cells capable of turning into into an array of cell types. These iP stem cells are the preferred resource in cultivated meat enterprises, owing to their versatility and commendable self-replication capabilities.
Stem Cell Processing:
Irrespective of the stem cell variant – be it adult or iP – the process originates with an animal specimen. Adult stem cells are directly extracted from the animal, whereas companies using an iP stem cells will extract and ordinary cell from an animal and pass the cell through a laboratory-induced process to transform it into an iP stem cell.
The stem cell then undergoes a process called proliferation. This is when a singular stem cell undergoes extensive and repetitive replication, resulting in the single cell becoming substantial mass of cels.
The next stage is a process called differentiation. This is when the stem cells transform into the specific cellular entities sought in cultivated meat production, with emphasis on adipose (fat) or muscular cells.