Panasonic Incubators Culture the World’s First Synthetic Burger

Panasonic MCO-80IC and MCO-19M incubators played an integral role in the production of the world’s first synthetic burger. The team at the ‘in vitro meat project’, led by Professor Mark Post, made global headlines with the creation of a laboratory grown burger in 2013. The University of Maastricht has been a Panasonic customer for the past decade and the high levels of expert technology in Panasonic’s reliable, efficient and controlled incubation systems ensured an optimum environment for the bovine cells used in this ground-breaking research.

The specific environment required for stem cell growth includes consistent CO2 and O2 levels. At the University of Maastricht, the CO2 sensing system built into MCO-19 series uses a single beam dual detector to provide the necessary levels of accuracy. The Panasonic long-life zirconia oxygen sensor, designed to uphold sub-ambient oxygen levels from 1% to 18%, also maintains consistently low O2 levels, while an electronic PID control preserves temperature and gas set points.

Panasonic’s Direct Heat and Air Jacket ensure temperature reliability

In addition, Panasonic’s patented Direct Heat and Air Jacket ensure temperature reliability. Gentle fan circulation delivers uniform temperatures to all cultures in the chamber regardless of their position – a huge benefit during this project, when thousands of individual samples were being cultivated at once. The Panasonic H2O2 decontamination system, combined with InCu saFe® technology and SafeCell® UV lamp, ensures effective decontamination to safeguard cell lines.

Upmost levels of performance and security

“We are delighted that Panasonic has been able to play a role in this pioneering research,” said Jacqueline van der Zijden, Product Manager at Panasonic Biomedical. “All our incubators are specifically designed to deliver upmost levels of performance and security, and being able to supply these technologies to such an important project is very exciting.”

During the production of the synthetic burger, muscle stem cells were extracted from a sample of tissue taken from a cow’s shoulder. Satellite cells were then cultured, and then merged to create myotubes. 20,000 rings of tissue were then layered together to create the burger itself.