Roni Rak Ph.D.

The Genetic Basis of Proliferation and Differentiation in Cultured Meat Production

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Cultured meat is a promising solution for meat production that will reduce environmental burden and animal suffering. Current challenges in producing cultured meat is the efficiency of the process, which is dictated by the proliferation capacity of the origin cells and the differentiation efficiency toward the target cell types. our lab aims to much advance the science and technology of meat culturing through the use of modern genomics technologies and new concepts regarding the genetic regulation of cellular proliferation and differentiation. At the heart of our studies is the use of genome manipulation and editing in screens of mesenchymal stem cells isolated from bovine to search for genes and pathways controlling the proliferation rate and differentiation process into muscle cells. It is expected that the fruits of this research will much advance our ability to cultivate meat and that more general insights would apply to additional agricultural crops.