Cultivated meat depends on a surprisingly fragile process: convincing animal cells to behave as they would inside a living body. Getting muscle cells to grow, mature, and form convincing tissue remains one of the biggest bottlenecks for the sector. A newly published patent from the Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation of Yeungnam University focuses on that problem at the biochemical level, offering a way to nudge cells toward muscle formation using carefully chosen medium additives.
Helping cells become muscle, faster
The patent centers on adding two compounds, laxogenin and 5-alpha hydroxy laxogenin, to cultured meat growth media (WO2025234562A1). These molecules are known plant-derived steroids that, in this context, act as signaling helpers rather than nutrients.
Their key target is myostatin, a protein naturally produced by animals to limit muscle growth. In everyday terms, myostatin is the body’s “slow down” signal for muscle. By reducing myostatin activity, cells receive fewer stop signals and are more likely to grow and mature.
The patent shows that when these additives are introduced, muscle stem cells increase activity of creatine kinase, an enzyme closely associated with muscle formation. Genes such as MYOD and MYOG, which act like internal switches telling a cell to commit to becoming muscle, are expressed at higher levels. Myosin, the structural protein that gives muscle its strength and texture, also increases. Together, these changes lead to thicker, more developed muscle fibers, while cellular stress levels drop.
Importantly, the effects were observed across cells derived from cows, pigs, chickens, and mice, suggesting the approach could translate across multiple cultivated meat species.
An academic bridge to food biotechnology
The Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation of Yeungnam University manages the university’s applied research and technology transfer efforts. Yeungnam University has long worked at the intersection of biotechnology and tissue engineering, and this patent reflects a broader interest in improving cell differentiation efficiency through molecular design rather than complex hardware.
By focusing on medium composition, the invention could be integrated into existing production pipelines with relatively low disruption.
Congratulations to the inventors — Inho Choi, Jeong Ho Lim, Syed Sayeed Ahmad, and Eun Ju Lee — for their contribution to the field.
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This article is authored by writer and editor Kandice Vincent, whose work centers on cellular agriculture, food technology, and the future of sustainable food systems. She partners with founders, researchers, and mission-driven companies to communicate emerging innovations with clarity and accessibility. Kandice is passionate about collaborating with others in the field and helping expand public understanding of the technologies shaping the future of food.
This post is based on publicly available information. Lab Grown Technologies is not affiliated with the inventors or organizations mentioned.