German cultivated meat startup MyriaMeat has announced that it is working on a new project to develop a hybrid sausage made from cultivated and conventional meat.
The project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the state of Lower Saxony as part of the program for more developed regions (SER). The aim is to create a product with the taste and texture of conventional meat, but a significantly lower environmental footprint.
The prototype is based on a novel process developed by MyriaMeat for producing pork from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). This process is notable because it produces real muscle tissue, not just cell mass.
A new generation of animal-free meat products
MyriaMeat first emerged from stealth in 2023, announcing that it was working to transfer groundbreaking patented medical technology to the food industry in order to enable the growth of functional muscle. In 2024, the startup revealed that it had successfully developed a cultivated pork fillet made entirely from pig cells, without the need for cell support scaffolds or added plant protein blends for shape.
Earlier this year, MyriaMeat said it had created pig muscle tissue that exhibits spontaneous contractions using pluripotent stem cells (iPS). This was claimed to be the first time cultivated pork had ever demonstrated the functional ability of real muscle tissue.
“The hybrid approach makes it possible to significantly reduce the proportion of conventional meat without compromising on familiar quality and taste,” said MyriaMeat on LinkedIn. “In the long term, the process could serve as the basis for a new generation of completely animal-free meat products – from sausages and roasts to fillets.”
