Berlin, Germany-based cell-cultivated seafood company Bluu Seafoods announced on 13 December it reached a "pivotal milestone" in the fish cell-cultivation process.
The company announced in a press release it successfully adapted its proprietary fish cell lines to grow in suspension without the use of microcarriers and other scaffolds.
"This is an imperative step to enable fish cell-cultured production with large scale stirred-tank bioreactors," Bluu Seafoods CEO Sebastian Rakers said. “This important achievement allows us to adhere to our ambitious research & development timelines. We are on track to kick off pilot production in Hamburg in 2023 and will enter the first phase of the commercialization of our products as planned."
The cell suspensions are the most-effective for animal cell reproduction at larger scales, Rakers said.
Bluu Seafoods uses a GMO-free approach based on the generation of spheroids, or small aggregates of cells. The spheroid cells join and grow during the stirring process in the company's bioreactor.
“Our bioprocess development team has developed a process that keeps the spheroids below a certain size while maintaining cell proliferation," Bluu Seafood Director of Research and Bioprocess Innovatio Duong T. Nguyen said. "Thus, the new method involving specific adjustments of growth media composition and bioprocessing parameters allows continuous cell production in suspension."
Bluu Seafoods said it expects to begin sales of cell-cultured seafood to European supermarkets by 2025.
Photo courtesy of Bluu Seafoods
