3D Bio-Tissues joins Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub (CARMA) grant project to accelerate scaffold innovation in cultivated meat

3D Bio-Tissues (3DBT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of BSF Enterprise PLC (LSE: BSFA), is pleased to announce its role as the key industrial partner of the School of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Leeds in a newly awarded Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub (CARMA) Pump Priming Grant, supporting the development of next-generation scaffolds for cultivated meat.

Set to commence on 9 June 2025, the research project, titled ‘Hybrid lipid-polymer electrospun scaffolds for cultivated meat manufacturing’, will explore sustainable scaffold solutions designed to better replicate the structure, mechanical properties, and digestibility of traditional meat.

Dr Amin Sadeghpour, Lecturer of Food Science at the School of Food Science and Nutrition of the University of Leeds, and the principal lead of the project, commented: “This multidisciplinary collaboration between the University of Leeds, Aberystwyth University, and 3DBT aims to tackle emerging challenges in cellular agriculture and advance the manufacturing of cultivated meat as a sustainable and appealing future generation food.”

As a global leader in cellular agriculture, 3DBT brings its proprietary cell culture supplements, City-Mix™ and CytoBoost™, to the table, offering chemically defined, animal-free alternatives that enable consistent, high-yield tissue growth. These macromolecular crowder-based solutions help replicate the crowded in vivo cellular environment, enhancing tissue development and reducing dependency on expensive growth factors.

3DBT will also contribute its expertise in scaffold-free tissue engineering, pioneered through its patented Advanced Tissue Engineering Platform (ATEP™), to assist with scaffold characterisation, performance assessment, and the prototyping of cultivated meat products.

Ricardo Gouveia, Chief Scientific Officer at 3DBT, commented:

“This is an important step toward scaling cultivated meat with precision, texture, and sustainability in mind. We’re excited to contribute our media technologies and analytical capabilities to help shape the future of food production.”

The project supports CARMA’s broader mission of catalysing collaborative research in cellular agriculture and strengthens 3DBT’s commitment to sustainable biotech innovation. Upon successful completion, 3DBT will continue to work with consortium partners to explore commercial pathways and bring these innovations to market.