USDA’s First Cultivated Meat Center “NICA” Opens Applications for Research Grants – vegconomist

The first US government-funded center for cultivated meat, the USDA’s National Institute of Cellular Agriculture (NICA) at Tufts University, has announced the opening of applications for its Seed Grant Program 2024. 
Seed-level funding grants of $25,000 or $50,000 will be awarded to support fundamental or applied research in cellular agriculture, precision fermentation, and alternative proteins.
Only primary investigators not associated with NICA are eligible to submit proposals. The new projects must align with NICA’s objectives and demonstrate a self-sufficient approach that can be completed within one year. In addition, the research aims described in the proposal must be new and not currently under investigation by the submitting person or entity.
The initial review of proposals will be conducted by NICA industry advisory board members, and the faculty will make the final selection. 
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First investment in cultivated meat
Established in 2021 with a $10 million USDA grant, NICA is located in the Greater Boston area within the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA). It is run by David Kaplan, who also heads TUCCA.
The award was part of a $146 million investment by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture for sustainable agricultural research. It also represents the US Department of Agriculture’s first investment in cultivated meat.
NICA researchers have accomplished several milestones in cell ag. These include establishing the first and only publicly available fish muscle cell line from the Atlantic Mackerel and using AI to support the development of serum-free media, scaffolds, and other biomaterials to reduce the cost of cultivated meat. 
The center (NICA), which serves a coalition of six USDA-funded research institutions, collaborates with institutions including Virginia Tech, Virginia State University, University of California-Davis, MIT, the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and TUCCA.
Last year, TUCCA launched the world’s first undergraduate degree in cellular agriculture. The Alt Protein Project, a global initiative by the Good Food Institute working to increase university awareness and engagement in protein diversification, works for Tufts University.

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