Imagine that we could make tissues indistinguishable from those produced by humans or animals, at will, and at comparable cost to the natural products. With the rate of progress being made, it won’t be imaginary much longer.

If we don’t need to kill animals for food, leather, or other products, then we reduce animal suffering. We increase biodiversity because we don’t need to devote huge land areas to feed farm animals. And we help climate change - the meat industry is a huge contributor to greenhouse gases.

This dream needs more than cultivated cells. We need to organise them into tissues, with multiple cell types in the correct places and doing the right things.

Directing cells to organise into tissue structures such as leather, corneas and cultivated meat has huge implications for medicine, fashion and the food industry.

Che Cannon joins me in this episode to share his work in this area. Che is the CEO of BSF Enterprise PLC, and we delve into the intersection of science and business in developing innovative technologies such as this.

Che shares the complexity of tissue mechanics and the advantages of bottom-up methods over traditional top-down approaches. We also talk about the environmental benefits and ethical considerations of alternative leathers and cultivated meats.

Additionally, Che explains the progress that has been made on the medical device front with corneal repair.

On the business side, we also cover the unusual step by the company to raise funds by listing on the stock exchange.

There are many practical applications of these technologies, and they are surely the future of sustainable materials in various industries, making these developments hugely important.

“Cultivated meat has a good purpose and can lift lots of technologies.” – Che Connon

You’ll hear about:

01:11 Exploring Cell and Material Interaction

03:30 Tissue Engineering and Its Applications

06:22 The Science Behind Lab-Grown Leather

15:31 Cultivated Meat: Innovations and Challenges

20:41 Macromolecular Crowding in Cell Culture

25:27 The Future of Cultivated Meat

28:49 Market Opportunities in Asia

31:46 Corneal Repair Technology

36:06 BSF Enterprise: A Unique Path to Funding

40:01 Future Directions in Research and Development

Connect with Che Connon:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/checonnon/

3D Bio-Tissues - https://www.3dbiotissues.com/

Kerato - https://kerato.co.uk/

BSF Enterprise - https://bsfenterprise.com/

Connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markdavison100/

If you need any lab equipment:

Grant Instruments: https://www.grantinstruments.com/

Grant Instruments on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grant-instruments-cambridge-ltd/