Sydney startup Vow Food creates the world’s first lab-grown meat made from extinct mammoth

Sydney startup Vow Food creates the world’s first lab-grown meat made from extinct mammoth

Vow Food's woolly mammoth meatball (Provided)

The creation of a mammoth meatball has triggered global discussion as to whether cell-based meat products have a place in the future of society, with the debate arriving as the Italian government looks to ban the sale of cultivated meat in the European nation.

But Down Under, local cultivated meat companies like Vow Food and Magic Valley are continuing to push the envelope as they seek regulatory approval to get their cell-based produce onto supermarket shelves.

A mammoth meatball has been created by Sydney-based cultivated meat company Vow Food in a move to spark debate about animal agriculture and how it contributes to the climate change crisis.

The company’s world-first project was unveiled at Nemo, a science museum based in the Netherlands, and aims to demonstrate the potential of how cell-based meat can combat environmental destruction, with the extinct woolly mammoth symbolising the planet's loss of animal diversity.

Cultivated meat, also known as cultured or cell-based meat, is made from animal cells and does not require killing livestock to be produced.

“It's a missed opportunity not to take advantage of the potential of cultivated meat to revolutionise the way we think about food." - Vow Food chief scientific officer James Ryall.
“It's a missed opportunity not to take advantage of the potential of cultivated meat to revolutionise the way we think about food." - Vow Food chief scientific officer James Ryall.
 

To create the meatball, Vow Food filled in the gaps of a mammoth myoglobin DNA sequence using information from the genome of an African elephant - the extinct animal’s closest living relative. The scientists inserted the synthesised gene into a sheep muscle cell, which was grown in a lab.

Founded in 2019, Vow Food began producing lab-grown meat from pork and kangaroo cells, and has since expanded the menu to include rabbit, mice, goat, water buffalo and alpaca. Four months ago, the company raised $73.4 million in a Series A led by Blackbird and Prosperity7 Ventures.

“Vow’s mission is to feed billions of humans. We want to change everyone’s conception of what meat is and what it can be,” Vow co-founder Tim Noakesmith said in a video unveiling the project.

“Cultured meat significantly reduces the climate impact that’s normally associated with regular meat production.”

“The technology is moving faster than regulatory pathways can keep up [with]. The world needs cultured meat right now.”

Singapore was the first country to approve the commercial sale of cultivated meat in the form of chicken nuggets and chicken breast produced by California-based GOOD Meat – a subsidiary of Eat Just.

Vow Food is looking to join the party this year by serving cultured Japanese quail in the city-state via a concept restaurant called Morsel.

According to the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), there are currently no permissions or requirements in the Food Standards Code for cell-based meats.

FSANZ holds the view that cell-based meats would be captured within existing standards in the Code and require pre-market approval before being sold to consumers.

Last month, Vow become the first cell-based meat player in Australia to begin the regulatory approval process with FSANZ in the hopes of delivering quail meat to the local market.

The unveiling of the mammoth meatball also comes as Italy considers banning the production and sale of cultivated food and meat.

The initiative angered organisations supporting the development of cell-based meat products, with Good Food Institute Europe head of policy Alice Ravenscroft claiming the passing of such a law would shut down the economic potential of the nascent field in Italy, holding back scientific progress and climate mitigation efforts.

“Cultivated meat allows us to push the boundaries of culinary innovation and create entirely new food experiences. Rather than simply replicating existing products, this technology offers us the opportunity to create something truly unique and better,” Vow Food chief scientific officer James Ryall said.

“It's a missed opportunity not to take advantage of the potential of cultivated meat to revolutionise the way we think about food.

“Cultured meat is going to need the support of political systems to generate enough momentum and money to support this brand-new technology.”

Magic Valley makes a move in the local market

Another startup, Melbourne-based Magic Valley, has created a cultivated lamb meat prototype and most recently, its own pork product. 

The latest addition is made from skin cells humanely taken from a living pig, which are then cultivated into stem cells using a mixture of amino acids and other nutrients used as food for cell growth.

Magic Valley is also looking to raise up to US$3 million ($4.5 million) and is seeking regulatory approvals for the lab-grown pork product. 

“The global need for alternative proteins to meet the demands of the growing population is imperative as we take that journey to achieving net-zero, steering clear of traditional ways of consuming meat for ethical and environmental reasons," Magic Valley founder and CEO Paul Bevan said. 

Today's announcement comes after a recent investigation by Australian animal protection charity Farm Transparency Project that revealed footage of huge gas chambers in which pigs would take their final breaths.

According to the organisation, the majority of the 5.5 million pigs killed in Australia each year go through gassing systems – whether they are factory-farmed, free-range or RSPCA Approved.

While the practice of gassing animals is legal in Australia, the charity is calling for the Australian government to make reforms.

“This is an important moment in Australia’s history, and in humanity’s history,” Animals Australia director of strategy Lyn White said.

“Do we allow such treatment of sentient beings to continue? Or do we grasp this moment to say ‘this ends with us’?”

How agriculture is impacting climate change

According to the World Economic Forum, we lack the land and resources required to produce enough food in the future.

The organisation estimates that 50 per cent of the world’s habitable land has already been converted for agricultural use, which poses a problem considering food production will have to scale dramatically over the next 40 years to meet heightened demand.

Further, up to 28 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions are already caused by the food industry. The meat sector is a big contributor to this, with a 2021 research paper published in Nature Food finding that the raising and culling of animals for food and the production of livestock feed accounts for nearly 60 per cent of all greenhouse gasses from food production.

Vow argues cultured meat could be a solution for the sub-sector, claiming it "is not only more sustainable but also more delicious and nutritious".

A life cycle assessment - a systematic analysis of the potential environmental impacts of products or services throughout their lifetime - modelling a large-scale cultivated meat production facility in 2030 found that cultivated meat could have a lower carbon footprint and reduced environmental impact compared to conventional meat.

The research, conducted by environmental consultancy CE Delft on behalf of the Good Food Institute, also found that cultivated meat reduces land use by up to 90 per cent compared to beef, 67 per cent compared to pork, and 64 per cent compared to chicken.

“As cultured meat production becomes more efficient beyond 2030 due to economies of scale, further cost decreases and environmental impact reductions are expected,” Vow added.

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