Cellular Agriculture at Tufts

Led by the biomedical engineering lab of David Kaplan (BME), Stern Family Professor in Engineering and Distinguished Professor, Tufts is blooming into a global leader in the multidisciplinary field of cellular agriculture — a new sector of bioengineering focused on creating protein-enriched foods derived not from animals, but from animal cells grown in bioreactors.

This year, the cellular agriculture group accepted groundbreaking grants, received a deeply generous gift from a Tufts alum, inked a deal with a food tech startup to help create fish from cells, developed a new certificate program, and launched the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA).

Learn more about TUCCA and Tufts’ industry-leading efforts at cellularagriculture.tufts.edu

Tufts receives USDA grant to develop cultivated meat

The team led by Kaplan received a five-year, $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture this year to develop an alternative food source: meat produced not from farm animals, but from cells grown in bioreactors. The group combines the efforts of engineers, biologists, nutrition researchers, and social scientists at Tufts and other universities, all in an effort to enhance food sustainability, nutrition, and security.

This new industry could provide nutritious and safe foods while reducing environmental impact and resource usage—with a target of significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and water use as compared to traditional meat production. To achieve these goals, the interdisciplinary teams will also work together to evaluate consumer acceptance of cultivated meat, measure the environmental impact of the manufacturing

Stern Family Professor of Engineering David Kaplan (left) and team members like BS/MS student Erin Soule-Albridge are leading the global conversation on cellular agriculture

process, assess the economic viability compared to farm production, and prepare the next generation of the industry’s workforce.

“The challenges are huge,” says Kaplan. “From an engineering perspective, every time you scale to the next level there are new limitations in terms of energy requirements, moving and combining materials, dealing with safety and contamination issues.”

The challenges may be big, but thanks to the expertise of Kaplan’s team, Tufts is prepared to lead the way.

Adapted from story by Isaac Nicholas and Mike Silver. Read more at go.tufts.edu/USDA

A transformational gift builds momentum

For three generations, the family of Davide Dukcevich, A96, made and sold traditional charcuterie, including prosciutto, salami, and sopresatta. Dukcevich majored in history at Tufts and later led his family’s business, Daniele Charcuterie, with his brother for 15 years. In 2020, soon after his family sold Daniele Charcuterie, Dukcevich learned of an innovation that just might upend his industry—and the world. His discovery didn’t take place in a lab or a factory, but during a walk in the woods, while listening to a podcast “about this thing called ‘cellular agriculture.’” For Dukcevich, the idea of providing nutritious, sustainable food for people, while reducing animal suffering and curtailing the heavy environmental costs of meat production, was thrilling. “And then I discovered that one of the leading centers for cellular agriculture research was Tufts University— my alma mater,” he says. He hopes his $1 million contribution will add momentum at this critical, early phase of the field. “This very generous gift builds Tufts’ momentum and strengthens our position as a global leader in cellular agriculture,” says Tufts President Anthony Monaco. “We are so grateful to Davide for investing in Tufts in this meaningful way. His generosity will help us build the capacity to leverage our unique strengths in the fields of bioengineering and nutrition to address the critical issues of food security and sustainability.”

PhD candidate Sophie Letcher

Davide Dukcevich

Adapted from story by Kris Willcox. Read more at go.tufts.edu/dukcevich