Granted Patent B2

US 12,630,793 · App. 18/627,047 · Granted May 19, 2026

Inventors: Charles Knight Benton (Berkeley, CA); Konrad Müller-Auffermann (Emeryville, CA)

Assignee: Upside Foods, Inc.

C12M23/06A22C17/0006C12M23/58C12M25/14C12M27/10A23L13/00A23V2002/00

Abstract

Claims (34)

1 . A method for producing a comestible meat product, the method comprising:

growing a plurality of meat cells on respective pluralities of substrates disposed within a plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors by circulating cell culture media through each elongated bioreactor of the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors at one or more cultivation flow rates with a substantially uniform distribution of internal pressure within each elongated bioreactor,

wherein an elongated enclosure of each elongated bioreactor of the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors forms a closeable environment and defines a substantially straight axial flow path extending from a respective inlet to a respective outlet of the elongated enclosure along its longitudinal axis; and

harvesting meat cells from within the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors by flowing fluid from the respective inlet to the respective outlet of each elongated bioreactor of the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors at an elevated flow rate compared to the one or more cultivation flow rates.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising circulating the cell culture media with a substantially uniform distribution of a temperature or a PH level within each elongated bioreactor of the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising circulating the cell culture media within a closed environment comprising the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors connected in parallel to a fluid source containing an at least partially liquid growth medium.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising, in response to harvesting meat cells from within the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors, cleaning in place the fluid source by closing one or more valves connected to the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors, opening one or more valves connected to the fluid source, and flowing a cleaning fluid through the fluid source without flowing the cleaning fluid through the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising selectively steaming at least one elongated bioreactor in place by:

opening one or more valves connected to the at least one elongated bioreactor;

closing one or more valves connected to one or more other elongated bioreactors of the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors; and

flowing steam through the at least one elongated bioreactor within a closed environment formed between a steam source, the at least one elongated bioreactor, and a steam trap.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising selectively flowing fluid through at least one elongated bioreactor by opening one or more valves connected to the at least one elongated bioreactor and closing one or more valves connected to one or more other elongated bioreactors of the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising selectively flowing fluid through the at least one elongated bioreactor without flowing fluid through the one or more other elongated bioreactors.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein selectively flowing fluid through the at least one elongated bioreactor comprises seeding or cultivating meat cells within the at least one elongated bioreactor while maintaining a closed environment of the one or more other elongated bioreactors.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising selectively flowing fluid through at least one additional elongated bioreactor of the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors to seed or cultivate meat cells within the at least one additional elongated bioreactor by closing the one or more valves connected to the at least one elongated bioreactor and opening one or more valves connected to the at least one additional elongated bioreactor.

10 . The method of claim 6 , wherein selectively flowing fluid through the at least one elongated bioreactor comprises cleaning the at least one elongated bioreactor in place while maintaining a closed environment within each of the one or more other elongated bioreactors.

11 . A method for producing a comestible meat product, the method comprising:

growing a plurality of meat cells within a plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors by circulating cell culture media in unobstructed flow from an inlet of at least one elongated bioreactor of the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors to one or more substrates of the at least one elongated bioreactor at one or more cultivation flow rates between 0.5 mm/s and 5 mm/s with a substantially uniform distribution of internal pressure within the at least one elongated bioreactor;

selectively harvesting meat cells from the at least one elongated bioreactor of the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors by closing valves connected to one or more other elongated bioreactors of the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors and flowing fluid from the inlet to an outlet of the at least one elongated bioreactor at a harvesting flow rate that is at least 200 times the one or more cultivation flow rates; and

cleaning the at least one elongated bioreactor in place by circulating fluid from the inlet to the outlet of the at least one elongated bioreactor at a cleaning flow rate that is higher than the harvesting flow rate.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein selectively harvesting meat cells from the at least one elongated bioreactor further comprises collecting harvested meat cells within a closed environment utilizing a harvester mechanism.

13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising, prior to growing the plurality of meat cells within the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors, selectively cleaning in place the at least one elongated bioreactor by closing valves connected to the one or more other elongated bioreactors of the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors and flowing cleaning solution through the at least one elongated bioreactor.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

in response to selectively cleaning in place the at least one elongated bioreactor, selectively growing an additional plurality of meat cells within the at least one elongated bioreactor; and

selectively harvesting the additional plurality of meat cells from the at least one elongated bioreactor.

15 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising, in response to selectively harvesting meat cells from the at least one elongated bioreactor, selectively cleaning in place the at least one elongated bioreactor by flowing a cleaning fluid through the at least one elongated bioreactor without flowing the cleaning fluid through the one or more other elongated bioreactors.

16 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising selectively steaming the at least one elongated bioreactor by closing valves connected to the one or more other elongated bioreactors of the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors and flowing steam through the at least one elongated bioreactor.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein selectively steaming the at least one elongated bioreactor comprises flowing steam from the outlet of the at least one elongated bioreactor to the inlet of the at least one elongated bioreactor.

18 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors is mounted at an incline relative to a ground surface to reduce accumulation of gas bubbles within each elongated bioreactor of the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors during cultivation.

19 . The method of claim 11 , wherein each elongated bioreactor of the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors further comprises offset inlets and offset outlets, wherein the offset inlets and offset outlets are:

disposed at opposing ends of each elongated bioreactor,

offset relative to a longitudinal axis of each elongated bioreactor, and

configured to reduce accumulation of fluids therein.

20 . The method of claim 11 , wherein circulating the cell culture media through the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors at the one or more cultivation flow rates comprises progressively increasing flow to substantially prevent removal of meat cells from the plurality of interconnected elongated bioreactors while circulating the cell culture media.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (250)