A Glimpse into the Future of Cultivated Meat Manufacturing: Multi-Unit MSUB Prototype Demonstrates Our Industrial Vision

The Israeli Cultivated Meat Consortium proudly presents a major technological milestone: the successful development and demonstration of the first prototype system capable of growing three whole-cut cultured meat units simultaneously in MSUB (Macro-Fluidic-Single-Use-Bioreactor) bags.

Modular 3 MSUBs system

This system is a core enabler of our long-term vision for an industrial-scale cultivated meat factory, where tens to hundreds of MSUBs are monitored and operated in parallel with high efficiency and minimal labor overhead.

The new prototype platform integrates three MSUB units (cultivation bags) into a single modular control unit, equipped with key engineering and biological innovations:

• Parallel Operation: Three independent MSUB bags are grown in tandem using a shared shaking mechanism, simulating industrial batch operation and significantly improving throughput per equipment footprint.

• Non-invasive Monitoring: Each MSUB unit is outfitted with reusable impedance sensors—measuring cellular activity without direct contact with the growth medium. These sensors enable real-time tracking of cell proliferation, differentiation, and potential contamination, dramatically increasing process control and early-failure detection.

• Advanced Scaffold System: The system supports large-scale scaffolds (up to 55 cm³), enabling volumetric tissue growth with high viability. The scaffolds are oval-shaped CNC-based biocompatible matrices, optimized for mechanical resilience under agitation and engineered to bind growth factors developed within the consortium.

The biological performance of the system was tested using genetically modified bovine mesenchymal stem cells, which were successfully directed to proliferate and differentiate into both muscle and fat lineages. In particular:

• 80% of the scaffold surface was covered by viable cells after 9–11 days.

• Differentiation into adipocytes was confirmed by 15-fold higher Bodipy fluorescence relative to undifferentiated controls.

• Differentiation into muscle cells was supported via DOX-inducible MyoD expression, IGF1/FGF2 combination from consortium-derived recombinant proteins, and was validated via qPCR and Titin immunostaining.

Importantly, the impedance-based monitoring system demonstrated the ability to distinguish between proliferation, adipogenesis, and cell death events, allowing predictive responses to culture deviations. This approach exemplifies the smart biomanufacturing principles required for efficient and scalable cultivated meat production.

This prototype marks the beginning of a scalable production line that could be implemented in future food-grade cultivated meat facilities. With its modularity, sensor integration, and compatibility with consortium-derived media and growth factors, this system showcases the powerful convergence of bioengineering, synthetic biology, and manufacturing know-how.

Stay tuned for further updates as we continue scaling toward a real-world implementation of this groundbreaking technology.