One of the main challenges that lab-grown fish startups have encountered is keeping cells from sticking to the sides of the tanks, where they naturally gravitate. Dr. Christian Dammann, chief technology officer of cultivated fish company Bluu Seafood, explained to Technology Networks that ideally you want to have suspension cultures, but most animal cells do not like that, preferring to be attached to something.

Bluu Seafood found its own way around this by developing its own micro-materials to keep its fish cells stuck together. “We created spheroids,” said Dammann. “So instead of adhering to a surface, they adhere to each other. And that seems to keep them happy. Then we grow them in a bioreactor.”

So, with several companies now in the final stages and preparing regulatory approval, we can possibly expect to see lab-grown fish hit our shelves by next year. But will consumers be willing to buy it, and can it really save our oceans? Only time will tell.

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