Alginate Scaffolds
Plant-based hydrogels for muscle culture
Irfan Tahir
The University of Vermont, United States
scaffold
Overview
Who: Irfan Tahir, Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering
When: 2021 – 2024
Institutes: The University of Vermont, United States
Supervisors: Rachael Floreani, associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Vermont
Summary
Irfan is using a plant-based material derived from seaweed, called alginate, to create hydrogel scaffolds for cultured meat. He intends to fine-tune the scaffold to mimic a cell’s natural environment in the body, creating ideal conditions for muscle growth and eventual tissue formation.
Irfan and his advisor are proof that growing cultured meat is fun!
Why This Matters
By mimicking the cells’ natural environment with the scaffold, cells can be grown and multiplied to form muscle tissue. However, not all scaffolds used in muscle culture are edible! By using this plant-based material, Irfan’s work will bring the field closer to edible cultured meat products.
More from Irfan Tahir
Featured
Publications
Creating an infrastructure for cultured meat
Advances in cultured meat technology (Book), 2023
