From bioreactor to table: reinventing future protein supply through cellular agriculture

Confronted with the severe environmental pressures, resource constraints, and ethical concerns of conventional animal husbandry, cellular agriculture has emerged as a revolutionary paradigm aiming to reshape the global food supply chain by producing meat, dairy, and eggs directly in controlled environments. This review systematically examines the two core pathways of this field, cell-cultured meat and precision fermentation, by outlining their technological advancements, industrialization challenges, and future prospects. The analysis identifies that scaling cell-cultured meat hinges on critical breakthroughs in cell line optimization, serum-free media cost reduction, and edible scaffolds, while precision fermentation primarily faces engineering challenges in scaling up efficient cell factories engineered via synthetic biology. The review further highlights intelligentization and automation as key catalysts, accelerating innovation from strain screening to bioprocess optimization. Beyond technological and production hurdles, it provides an in-depth examination of the market and societal factors crucial for adoption, including product sensory profiles, consumer psychology, and regulatory frameworks. Although significant challenges in cost, technology, and public perception persist, ongoing cross-disciplinary innovation is positioning cellular agriculture not as a replacement but as a vital complement to traditional protein systems. Together, they hold the potential to co-create a more sustainable, resilient, and diversified future protein supply ecosystem.