Israeli scientists discover how to make cow cells divide indefinitely

 

Israeli scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in collaboration with Israeli food-tech company Believer Meats, have announced a breakthrough that could reshape the global cultivated meat industry.

In a peer-reviewed study published Wednesday in Nature Food, researchers revealed they were able to induce spontaneous, unlimited cell division—commonly referred to as “cellular immortality”—in beef cells without genetic modification or cancerous transformation.

The finding overcomes a major scientific and regulatory hurdle that has long delayed the industrial-scale production of cultured beef at accessible prices. The results position Israel as a global leader in the rapidly evolving field of alternative protein.

Until now, the prevailing belief in the field was that establishing a stable, self-renewing bovine cell line required deliberate genetic engineering—unlike with chicken cells, where similar results have already been achieved. This new study challenges that assumption.

Prof. Yaakov Nahmias, who led the research team, explained that the researchers cultured bovine cells from Holstein and Simmental cattle breeds for over 500 days. After approximately 180 days, the cells began showing signs of aging and a significant slowdown in growth. But persistence paid off: after about 240 generations of cell division, a subset of cells spontaneously began to regenerate and maintain stable growth rates—all while remaining healthy and non-cancerous.

Molecular analysis linked the phenomenon to the natural activation of two key enzymes—telomerase and PGC1α—which appear to “reset” parts of the cells' biological clock.

Dr. Elliot Swartz of the U.S.-based Good Food Institute, cited in the study, said the findings offer a potential “roadmap” for developing stable, non-GMO cell lines across a variety of animal species used in the food industry.

The ability to develop a stable, safe, and scalable cell line without genetic modification is seen as a breakthrough solution to two of the most critical challenges facing the cultivated meat industry.

The first is regulatory: many global food safety authorities require that cultured meat be derived from non-genetically modified cells. The Israeli team’s discovery could significantly streamline and accelerate regulatory approval processes, especially in Europe, where "Novel Food" laws are among the strictest in the world.

The second challenge involves cost and production efficiency—major obstacles that have slowed the commercialization of lab-grown meat. Using stable cell lines enables continuous, large-scale production without repeated extraction of cells from live animals. This shift could dramatically reduce production costs, long considered the primary barrier to mass-market viability.

This Israeli breakthrough aligns with a broader trend in both the local and global food-tech sectors. Israel has already emerged as a world leader in the field. In early 2024, the Israeli Health Ministry became the first authority to approve cultivated beef for commercial sale—produced by Aleph Farms—beating regulators in the U.S. and Singapore, who have so far approved only cultured chicken products from companies like Upside Foods and Good Meat.

On the global stage, governments are increasingly viewing cultivated meat as a strategic solution to food security and sustainability. While regulatory progress on cultured chicken continues in the U.S. and Singapore, breakthroughs like the one achieved in Israel are still needed to bring cultivated beef to market.

In China, cultivated meat is part of its five-year plans for agriculture and emissions reduction. The country has invested heavily in alternative proteins and has signed major agreements with Israeli food-tech companies. As early as 2017, China signed a wide-ranging trade agreement with Israel that included a $300 million component dedicated to cultured meat technologies.

In Europe, by contrast, the lengthy approval process led by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has delayed product launches. However, innovations like "immortal" cell lines could shift the balance and provide a boost to European firms developing cultivated meat solutions.

The new Israeli study offers an alternative to existing approaches in the cultivated meat industry. While other companies have relied on genetic engineering—such as a U.S.-based study from Tufts University—to create cells capable of dividing indefinitely, the Israeli breakthrough provides a more “natural” route.

This technology echoes the early challenges faced by the antibiotic and renewable energy sectors: high costs, limited production capacity and regulatory hesitation. Just as engineered yeast revolutionized the pharmaceutical industry, these bovine cell lines could serve as a platform for continuous and cost-effective production of muscle and fat tissues—reducing the need to raise cattle, a resource-intensive practice that contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and excessive water use.

The research also touches on a fascinating biological question: Peto’s Paradox, which asks why larger animals with more cells do not have proportionally higher cancer rates. Regardless of the answer, if industrial-scale production proves viable, cultivated meat may move beyond its niche status and onto mainstream dinner plates—helping address climate change and global food insecurity.