Guest Editors
Mukunda Goswami
ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai, INDIA
Dr. Mukunda Goswami completed his doctoral studies at ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), Mumbai, and post-doctoral research at the University of Ottawa, Canada. Before moving to ICAR-CIFE, Mumbai as a Principal Scientist in the Fish Genetics and Biotechnology Division, he worked as a Senior Scientist in the Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Division, ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, Lucknow, for several years. Dr. Goswami’s research focuses on developing and characterizing fish cell lines and their in vitro applications. He has applied DNA barcoding and proteomics techniques to characterize fish tissues and cells. He has also developed a National Repository of Fish Cell Line (NRFC) in India with financial assistance from the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India. His recent research in his cell culture facility at ICAR-CIFE, Mumbai, will provide a breakthrough for developing cultivated seafood using muscle cell culture.
Alexandrea Duscher
Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Dr. Duscher is a Research Scientist at Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center studying sustainable seafood production systems, with her main research focused on cultivated seafood production. Dr. Duscher received her bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and Environmental Studies from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL, where she completed a thesis on diseased marine sponge microbiomes with Dr. Koty Sharp; and she completed her PhD in Microbiology and Cell Science at the University of Florida in Merritt Island, FL. Her thesis focused on the impact of modeled microgravity on a beneficial symbiosis. Dr. Duscher has also studied the microbial ecology of stromatolites during her post-baccalaureate position in Dr. Foster’s Lab, and molecular characterization of stem cell regeneration in a hydrozoan model system while working as a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. Christine Schnitzler.
Collection Overview
About 17% of animal protein consumed by human beings comes from fish. Aquaculture has been growing as one of the fastest-growing food sectors globally. However, aquaculture has many challenges in maintaining its sustainable fish production. Given this, cellular aquaculture has enormous potential to provide alternative animal protein in the form of cultivated meat. This scope of cellular aquaculture relies upon the availability of adequately characterized muscle cell cultures or cell lines, the isolation of source cells, and a deep understanding of the differentiation process of appropriate muscle and fat cells into ideal cells for the development of cultivated meat. This Methods Collection aims to demonstrate standardized methods for the isolation of the source cell, development of stable muscle cell lines/myocytes/adipocytes, co-culture of myocytes and adipocytes, muscle cell growth optimization on scaffolds or microcarriers in appropriate media, increase cell production, identification of ideal markers at different stages of myogenesis and adipogenesis, and methods of tissue/flavor characterization for identifying flavor volatiles.