Animal-Free Protein Cultivating in North Carolina

The biotech triangle in North Carolina, home to a variety of research advancements, also includes novel work on the creation of animal-free protein. In that region, research and tech firm Urban Crop Solutions is teaming up with startup biotech company Tiamat Sciences Corp. on new cellular agriculture and cultivated meat projects.

Among other R&D efforts, the female-owned Tiamat Sciences and Urban Crop Solutions have focused on the development of cellular meat at a time of growing interest in such alternative products. Tiamat is working on creating animal-free protein by combining biotechnology, vertical farming and computational design. Using a new cellular agriculture growth medium with plant-based biomolecules, the companies aim to reduce the cost of producing cultivated meat and ramp up large-scale manufacturing.

Currently, Tiamat offers several recombinant proteins, including those for cultured meat, and is working on GRAS certification. “Our goal has always been to offer ecological and ethical raw materials to biotechnology companies, public research labs and pharmaceutical actors. However, now we are seeing that the market is truly ripe for our product. We have gotten off to a great start with it – with the success of our research trials, and our expansion into the U.S. The collaboration with Urban Crop Solutions has been instrumental to our success,” reported France Emmanuelle-Adil, founder and CEO of Tiamat.

Urban Crop Solutions for its part, provides indoor farming solutions that span planning and construction. In addition to helping accelerate animal-free meat, Urban Crop Solutions is also collaborating with growers around the world on indoor farming projects designed top provide sustenance and improve sustainability.