Cultured meat: impetus for science, policy, and somestic agriculture

Abstract

Cultured meat is considered a potentially pioneering technology to reduce the environmental impacts, animal suffering, and resource use associated with conventional meat production, while simultaneously opening new pathways for food security, health, and economic development. At the same time, the technology faces significant technical challenges, societal reservations, and economic risks that will strongly influence its future role in the food system. This impulse paper examines these opportunities and challenges and provides recommendations for science, policy, and agriculture with a view to a fact-based, transparent, and forward-looking development of this technology.