Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in collaboration with the Israeli company Believer Meats, announced a scientific breakthrough that could transform the global cultivated-meat industry. In a study published in the prestigious journal Nature Food, they demonstrated that bovine cells can spontaneously acquire the ability to divide indefinitely —a form of “cellular immortality”— without genetic engineering and without becoming cancerous.
This finding overcomes a scientific and regulatory barrier that had prevented industrial-scale production of cultivated beef at accessible prices, positioning Israel as a global knowledge center in the field. Until now, the dominant view in international research was that producing stable bovine cell lines required genetic modification, unlike chicken cells, where a similar process had already been achieved. The new study challenges that assumption.
Professor Yaakov Nahmias, the lead researcher, explained that they cultivated cells from Holstein and Simmental cattle for more than 500 days. After around 180 days, signs of cellular aging and slower growth appeared. However, persistence paid off: after about 240 generations of cell division, new cells emerged that began to self-renew spontaneously, maintaining a stable growth rate without becoming malignant.
Source: Agromeat
