Sep 28, 2025 08:46 PM
https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-tech...at-at-home
INTRO: Growing your own fruit and veg is nothing new. But what if you could grow your own meat from the comfort of your own home? That’s what a company in Japan wants to make possible.
The Shojinmeat Project helps people grow their own meat, almost like a plant, without an animal having to die. It’s called cultivated meat, and it’s made by taking a few animal cells and helping them grow in a tank called a bioreactor. It’s real meat, but it doesn’t come via a farm and slaughterhouse.
The founder and director of the Shojinmeat Project is called Yuki Hanu. He describes his company as a not-for-profit citizen science project, which aims to enable “restaurant chefs or hobbyists to grow designer meat in their premises”.
The project hasn’t quite reached the level where they’re growing whole pork cutlets, but they’ve made a good start.
“We have been successful in establishing an entirely DIY version of animal cell cultural protocols,” says Hanu, explaining that the project provides people with instructions, including a list of items to buy, for cultivating small amounts of meat at home. And these items aren’t lab-grade gadgets; they’re all readily available online or on the high street.
A spin-off of the Shojinmeat Project, called IntegriCulture, has also developed a bioreactor system that people can buy and use in a domestic or restaurant setting. This one is pre-built, so it’s a bit less DIY than the Shojinmeat kit, but Hanu says it’s still far cheaper than using a lab-grade bioreactor, like those used to make commercial lab-grown meat.
With IntegriCulture, there’s also more choice. Their bioreactors can grow more than 30 different types of cells from a variety of animals and fish, according to Hanu – “but it is more of an industrial process,” he adds.
In contrast, the Shojinmeat method recommends using chicken cells, because they’re easier to acquire and grow at home, compared to other meats... (MORE - details)
INTRO: Growing your own fruit and veg is nothing new. But what if you could grow your own meat from the comfort of your own home? That’s what a company in Japan wants to make possible.
The Shojinmeat Project helps people grow their own meat, almost like a plant, without an animal having to die. It’s called cultivated meat, and it’s made by taking a few animal cells and helping them grow in a tank called a bioreactor. It’s real meat, but it doesn’t come via a farm and slaughterhouse.
The founder and director of the Shojinmeat Project is called Yuki Hanu. He describes his company as a not-for-profit citizen science project, which aims to enable “restaurant chefs or hobbyists to grow designer meat in their premises”.
The project hasn’t quite reached the level where they’re growing whole pork cutlets, but they’ve made a good start.
“We have been successful in establishing an entirely DIY version of animal cell cultural protocols,” says Hanu, explaining that the project provides people with instructions, including a list of items to buy, for cultivating small amounts of meat at home. And these items aren’t lab-grade gadgets; they’re all readily available online or on the high street.
A spin-off of the Shojinmeat Project, called IntegriCulture, has also developed a bioreactor system that people can buy and use in a domestic or restaurant setting. This one is pre-built, so it’s a bit less DIY than the Shojinmeat kit, but Hanu says it’s still far cheaper than using a lab-grade bioreactor, like those used to make commercial lab-grown meat.
With IntegriCulture, there’s also more choice. Their bioreactors can grow more than 30 different types of cells from a variety of animals and fish, according to Hanu – “but it is more of an industrial process,” he adds.
In contrast, the Shojinmeat method recommends using chicken cells, because they’re easier to acquire and grow at home, compared to other meats... (MORE - details)