English 
Spanish 
5 min read
2 comments
JBS and a government entity are leading a multi-million dollar research project to develop cultured meat, an alternative to traditional meat that promises food safety and sustainability. The initiative involves startups, AI and advanced science, positioning Brazil at the forefront of food innovation.
Imagine a future where The meat you consume did not need to go through the slaughter of any animal. This scenario, which seemed like science fiction until recently, is increasingly closer to reality.
And Brazil, one of the largest meat producers in the world, does not want to be left out of this revolution. A partnership between a government entity and JBS is investing billions to make this future possible, with implications that could transform the food industry as we know it. But what’s behind this bold project?
The race for the meat of the future
In an initiative that draws attention due to its magnitude, Embrapii (Brazilian Company for Industrial Research and Innovation) is leading a innovative project that can change the course of meat production.
- Bridge worth almost R$400 MILLION takes shape and already has a completion date
- State of São Paulo will have a new bridge! Project valued at 27 MILLION has just been approved with the right to a roundabout and adaptation of a double lane
- APPROVED! Important railway will receive investment of 500 MILLION to be expanded and become one of the main railways in Brazil
- Petrobras gets a New Year's resolution in court and the fact alerts companies such as Vale, Americanas and others
The entity is investing heavily in research that seeks alternatives to animal protein. The proposal is simple, but revolutionary: produce real meat, with flavor, texture and nutritional value, without the need to slaughter animals.
According to the site Buy Rural, the total investment in the project is R $ million 6,5, and it is financed by the Basic Funding Alliance (BFA) modality, which allocates non-reimbursable resources to co-financing research and development (R&D) projects.
This research began at the end of 2023 and has a two-year term. Various SENAI Innovation Institutes participating in the project, such as the SENAI Institute of Innovation in Embedded Systems (ISI-SE), from Florianópolis (SC), SENAI CIMATEC, from Salvador (BA), and the SENAI Institute of Innovation in Biosynthetics and Fibers (ISI B&F), in Rio de Janeiro (RJ).
In addition to these, companies such as JBS Biotech and Duas Rodas, as well as startups such as BiomeHub and AlgaSul, are also involved.
Challenges and innovations on the path to cultured meat
The project is a response to a global demand for sustainable solutions. In 2019 the UN already warned on the need for changes in food production and consumption, predicting that the world population would reach around 10 billion people by 2050.
According to the report, to ensure food security and reduce environmental impacts, it is essential to reformulate the food production system.
However, producing meat in a laboratory is not a simple task. One of the main challenges is to replace the fetal bovine serum used in cell culture with non-animal components that are sustainable and preserve the sensory characteristics of traditional meat.
“The focus of the project is to identify and test sources of alternative ingredients”, said Leonardo Oliveira, Operations Manager at ISI-SE. During the two years of research, the collected material will be analyzed with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), to optimize data and enable better decision making.
Investment and risk: the role of Embrapii
Embrapii assumes most of the financial risk, investing 90% of the total, while JBS and Duas Rodas contribute the remaining 10%. According to Oliveira, this financing structure is essential for projects with a low level of technological maturity, in which large companies are usually more hesitant to invest.
According to Fernanda Berti, Executive Director of JBS Biotech Innovation Center, the company has been investing in the cultivated protein market since 2022.
The goal, according to her, is not to compete with traditional meat production methods, but rather to offer a viable alternative. “This technology is a tool that can contribute to food security in the future”, highlights Berti.
Multidisciplinary collaboration and a promising future
The strength of the project also lies in the collaboration between different actors. In addition to research institutions and companies, startups such as BiomeHub, specialized in microbiomes, and AlgaSul, focused on biotechnological solutions from algae, also play an important role in the development of research.
According to Salvelino Nunes, research and advanced technology manager at Duas Rodas, this exchange of knowledge between different players brings a great advantage to the project, allowing it to explore new possibilities in the field of food innovation.
Karine Lena Meneghetti, technical-scientific manager of the project, explained that one of the greatest advantages of the research is the use of omics sciences, which are not normally applied in the food industry.
According to her, the study of these sciences allows for a more complete analysis of biological environments, which can result in robust and innovative technologies for the production of cultured meat. “By 2030, we hope it will be possible to develop alternative ingredients from plant and microbial sources”, predicts Meneghetti.
Impacts on the future of food
The project, which will last two years, aims to develop data analysis tools that use advanced technologies, such as genetic sequencing, chemical and cellular analysis, bioinformatics and artificial intelligence.
This platform will be able to identify potential alternative ingredients for the production of cultured meat. The expectation is that, by the end of the project, these tools can be widely used, enabling a revolution in the way meat is produced globally.
Brazil, with its enormous meat production capacity, could become a protagonist in the cultured meat revolution, contributing not only to food security, but also to environmental preservation. The question remains: to what extent will this new technology impact the traditional meat market?
With the future of proteins being designed in laboratories and large companies like JBS investing billions in this innovation, are we ready for a new era in food? And you, reader, do you believe that cultured meat can really replace traditional meat? Leave your opinion in the comments.
“Embrapii (Brazilian Research Company…) is studying the creation of artificial meat (if it is not natural, it is artificial) proposing it as a solution in the generation and supply of a natural food rich in nutrients”.
See: If Brazil is the world's largest supplier of beef, what is the reason for creating artificial meat when the country is in a commercially favorable condition in this sector?
For those who can decipher a “code”, you don’t need to be a genius: you just need to not be ****.
This future (and very viable) replacement, in a country where hundreds of tons of (super-processed) burger meat, sausages, and every kind of sausage you can imagine are sold (which gradually kills consumers), is clearly intended to “cut the excess of people in the world”. Do you know what I mean?
Brave New World, where social control was 100% and people were produced in artificial wombs and were conditioned by castes. The fate of future generations will be sad