Q &A
Interview by Karen Christensen
With respect to climate change, our diet is a major offender. Describe the current situation and your company’s response to it.
First, our food system contributes to climate change, and it constitutes a whopping 34 per cent of all human-caused emissions. We know that meat, and beef in particular, is the biggest offender, causing nine per cent of emissions. That is huge! Second, climate change is impacting food production as it impacts temperature, rainfall, biodiversity, resource and land availability, insect populations and more. These shifts can lead to massive food security issues for a system that is already seeing rising demand and costs.
With food changing the climate, and the climate changing food, our food system will change no matter what. That we know. My colleagues and I want to do our part to address these issues. We are focused on creating delicious, nutritious and reliable meats that are more sustainable and less resource intensive in order to feed the globe’s growing appetite for meat.
A scientist, engineer and CDL alum describes her company’s efforts to ‘fix food.’QUESTIONS FOR Patricia Bubner, CEO, Orbillion Inc.
Lifecycle projections of the impact of cultured meat show that it can reduce emissions and land use by more than 90 per cent. If we achieve even half of that efficiency, that will add up to an enormous reduction. And reduced land use means reducing forest loss, rewilding lands and restoring biodiversity. We really believe we’re on to something.
One of Orbillion’s goals is to make sustainable foods more accessible to society. How will you go about this?
The most consumed breeds we think of today have been selected for their ability to grow big and grow fast in an industrial system. They have not been selected for their flavour or sustainable integration with the environment. The most flavourful meats are actually heritage breeds, which are hard to access because they’re hard to farm. We plan to bring sustainable heritage meats to more people without needing to farm a single animal.
While the cost of cultured meat will likely be high as products enter the market, we will see these prices go down substantially as production ramps up. Sort of like what happened with solar panels.
Can you provide us with the Coles Notes version of how you go about crafting cell-cultured meat?
Absolutely. Here’s a general overview. First, we skillfully select a small sample of tissue from prized heritage animal breeds, leaving the animal unharmed to go on living a long and happy life. Then, we place the sample in a safe, controlled environment that we call a bioreactor, with just the right recipe of nutrients, so the sample can grow. From there, the sample grows into muscle, which we then combine with spices and other delicious ingredients, to craft meat into familiar forms we know and love. We focus on heritage animal breeds because we’re optimizing for delicious food that eaters can feel great about, and we’re working with farmers, building on their expertise and help -
ing to retain the biodiversity of heritage breeds crafted over centuries.
Are there any ethical concerns around your process?
This is a challenging question, because it is so personal. When I think about any ethical questions with cultured meat, I first think about intensive animal agriculture — the unmitigated climate impacts, the risks of disease and the billions of animals that are raised and killed for meat in ways many of us try not to think about (because we know it’s really unpleasant.) Then I think about having the knowledge that we face a looming food crisis, and the ethical concerns around inaction around that. Millions might go hungry, when we could have chosen a different path. And then I think about how technology has unlocked health, wealth and amazing human experiences that were unfathomable 100 years ago.
It is through that lens that I hear questions from people about the ethics of cultured meat. When it comes to the initial sample, we take a lot of pride in working with vets and farmers to ensure that this routine process of sampling cells is done in a humane and caring manner, and that the animal is cared for afterward. In the cell culture arena, many companies are using some animal-derived components, which we are actively working to phase out. And finally, when it comes to technology, we’re proud that we can leverage the same bioprocesses that have helped people for more than 40 years stay healthy and well, and that we can continue to expand knowledge of our food, of nutrition and of human health. So, while this is challenging, my response is that no, I don’t have ethical concerns around our process. I am really proud of what we do.
Some countries, like Russia and China, are reticent to reduce their meat consumption. Why is that?
Food is extremely cultural and personal, as well as being nostalgic. It influences how we feel from day to day, how we
We will see prices go down substantially as production ramps up. Sort of like what happened with solar panels.
interact with friends, and how we mark the most important milestones in our lives. Countries are made up of individuals who are making choices every day, and change is hard. Our view is that change is happening no matter what, so we hope to give people another meat option that they are excited to choose — one that is delicious, satisfying and happens to be more sustainable, too.
Describe your experience with the Creative Destruction Lab.
The CDL Climate stream is a fantastic program offering equity-free mentorship and connections to key stakeholders in the field, from investors to fellow companies. The feedback we received on our goals and progress from experienced professionals was extremely helpful, and the ongoing support by our venture manager and the program’s mentors was invaluable. We were able to sharpen our message, get feedback from experienced innovators and investors and raise funding. CDL is truly a fantastic program for young companies.
Talk a bit about how alternative meat sources can lower the rate of food-borne illness worldwide. In conventional animal agriculture, animals are exposed to a wide-range of pathogens due to fecal contamination,
confined lots and diseases from other animals that can then contaminate meat. This just isn’t the case with cultured meat. We are able to make cultured meat microorganismfree without using antibiotics, which we hope will bring a reduction in dangerous food-borne illness. As a side note, we also don’t contribute to other types of illnesses like zoonotic diseases that mutate and spread rapidly in highdensity livestock production and require huge amounts of antibiotics to contain.
Will vegetarians and vegans eat your meat? Or are you aiming to convert carnivores?
We are not here to convert anyone; we’re here to provide people with more options. Our belief is that this will largely appeal to meat eaters and those vegetarians who may not be feeling totally satisfied without meat. One last thing: we’re hiring! I invite readers to check out our careers page and reach out. Even if you don’t see your dream job featured right now but you’re interested in what we’re doing, please connect with us. Beyond our company, this is a new and exciting field with so much room to innovate and grow.
Cultured meat is microorganism-free, which we hope will lead to a reduction in food-borne illness.Patricia Bubner is the Co-Founder and CEO of Orbillion Bio, Inc., whose mission is to accelerate the broad availability of a variety of cultivated meat products. She holds a PhD in Biotechnology. Cell-cultured meat is expected to reduce emissions and land use by more than 90 per cent. Pictured: Orbillion’s take on Wagyu beef.
