Maintaining a healthy planet with future foods

As the global population rises and environmental stressors pile up, the question of how to ensure food security for all grows increasingly pressing. A new study led by Tufts Research Technician, and incoming PhD student, Edward B. Gordon and co-authored by Stern Family Professor David Kaplan explore a possible solution: future foods made possible by advances in biomaterials and cellular agriculture. The work was published in Nature Reviews Materials and represents an exciting step in reshaping food production systems.

The article introduces the concept of future foods: scalable, sustainable food products developed through emerging technologies in plant-based systems and cellular agriculture. The team examines how biomaterials can support low-cost, high-efficiency food production while maintaining food safety standards.

Titled “Biomaterials in cellular agriculture and plant-based foods for the future,” the research brings together a diverse team, including Distinguished Professor, Stern Family Professor David Kaplan of the Department of Biomedical Engineering; Armaghan Amanipour and Champ Jones of Texas A&M University; Amin Nikkhah and Nicole Tichenor Blackstone of Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy; Inyoung Choi, Begum Koysuren, and Nitin Nitin of UC Davis; Reza Ovissipour of Texas A&M; and Yiwen Hu and Markus J. Buehler of MIT.

Their research highlights how future foods, like lab-grown or plant-based meat, can help tackle urgent global challenges related to human, animal, and environmental health. Using scalable edible biomaterials, the authors envision a future where food innovation supports the planet. As they write, “This forward-looking path is a necessity to maintain a healthy planet, with future foods serving as a model to address needs across the broader materials community.”

Producing biomaterials at the scale needed to address food scarcity remains a major challenge. Equally important is gaining consumer acceptance of these new food technologies once they hit the market. While further research and funding is needed, the insights offer a compelling vision for how innovative materials science could transform global food systems—advancing both nutrition and sustainability.

Nature Reviews Materials is a leading publication in the materials science field, known for its authoritative reviews and forward-thinking perspectives. Covering topics from materials design and synthesis to real-world applications, the journal bridges gaps across disciplines including physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering.