EU-Backed Project Delivers Non-GMO Cattle Cell Line for Cultivated Meat
Cultivated meat producers have been given a boost with the delivery of a non-GMO cattle cell line by the EU-backed ProFuse project.
The project, coordinated by Israeli company ProFuse Technology, has developed two technologies for cultivated meat producers: a media supplement designed to speed the maturation of muscle cells, and a bovine muscle cell line adapted for production without genetic modification.
ProFuse's PROFUSE-S1 supplement is designed to help immature muscle cells develop into mature fibres faster. The team built a second-generation version, PROFUSE-S2, during the project and moved testing into a 3D setup that better reflects factory conditions than a flat lab surface.
| Technology | Description |
|---|---|
| PROFUSE-S1 | Media supplement for muscle cell maturation |
| PROFUSE-S2 | Second-generation version of PROFUSE-S1, tested in 3D setup |
| PROFUSE-B8 | Bovine muscle cell line, spontaneously immortalized |
The second technology is a bovine muscle cell line intended to give producers a stable, non-GMO source of beef cells that can be grown at scale. ProFuse has previously stated that its PROFUSE-B8 line is spontaneously immortalized, allowing continuous division without repeat sourcing from a host animal or genetic engineering.
A portion of the project involved trialling the technologies inside partner companies' own processes. A collaboration with cultivated meat producer SuperMeat reduced production costs, according to ProFuse, by accelerating cell maturation and increasing muscle yield, lowering the cost per kilogram.
ProFuse estimates a total available market of 22 billion euros by 2050, though the cultivated sector remains early-stage and constrained by production costs, scale-up difficulty and regulatory timelines.
The company has increasingly directed its muscle-cultivation expertise toward drug and dietary-supplement discovery, targeting muscle loss associated with GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. AgFunderNews reported in July 2026 that ProFuse raised $1.5 million to support that transition, with the CEO stating that its cultivated meat work would not generate returns quickly enough to sustain the business in the short to medium term.
ProFuse frames the two areas as complementary rather than separate, with the company's CEO stating that anything discovered to help protect muscle and grow muscle can be used again in cultivated meat.
The project was supported by the European Innovation Council and its results were published this week by the European Commission's CORDIS research service.
