Bright Biotech raises $3.2 million to boost cultivated meat

Manchester-based Bright Biotech has secured $3.2 million in an oversubscribed seed funding raised to commercialise its cultured meat growth factors, using life-giving organelles from plant cells that ordinarily turn sunlight into oxygen.

Scientists hope meat grown from lone animal cells in bioreactors could eventually help reduce food poverty and reduce the world’s need for high-emissions livestock. By 2040, data forecasts cited by Bright Biotech predict the industry could be worth as much as $116 billion. Opinions on the environmental impact vary; one analysis says the carbon footprint is 92% less than beef, but just 17% lower than chicken.