Scientists Grow Microalgae From Cultivated Meat Production Waste For Next-Level Efficiency

Increasing the efficiency of cultivated meat production could help accelerate its rollout and uptake

10th September 2026

2 Minutes Read

A team of scientists has grown microalgae from cultivated meat production waste.

In a new study, the team wrote that their work “provides the first feasibility demonstration of a circular cell culture system.”

The scientists found that it is possible to grow microalgae using waste from cultivated meat production, process the microalgae, and then feed it back into the system as a way to replace some of the expensive ingredients required to grow new meat cells.

Melanie Oey, the study’s corresponding author and a Research Officer at the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience in Brisbane, Australia, said that she and her team estimate a 60 to 90 percent reduction in growth media costs, thereby making production that much more efficient and cost-effective.

She said, “The algae could absorb leftover nutrients from the cultivated meat waste while supplying oxygen to meat cells. The nutrients harvested from the microalgae could be returned to the system, creating a self-sustaining circular bioeconomy.”

Oey added, “This greatly reduces the need for expensive growth factors and amino acids, which remain one of the largest hurdles getting cultivated meat into supermarkets and onto dinner plates.”

The study will appear in Food Research International at the end of September.

Cultivated meat, cost, and the food system

Photo shows someone's hands holding a large cheeseburger. A team of scientists has grown microalgae from cultivated meat production waste — Adobe Stock Cultivated meat and other alternative proteins could help to overhaul the unsustainable global food system

Despite the significant potential of cultivated meat production to transform the global food system, the cost of scaling production remains an obstacle.

Oey and her team found that their methods actually produced more microalgae than was needed for nutrient recycling, meaning that using a circular cell culture system could potentially create an additional revenue stream for cultivated meat producers.

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