Institutional development · Research, innovation and assessment · Netherlands
Maastricht University's MERLN starts research line on cultivated meat, targeting lab-grown steak
David Kilian, who joined MERLN at Maastricht University as an assistant professor in 2025, has begun a research line using tissue engineering to produce cultivated meat.
Why it matters: Researchers at MERLN, Maastricht University, now have a cultivated meat research line, started by assistant professor David Kilian, applying tissue engineering methods to food production.
Maastricht University reported that David Kilian joined MERLN in 2025 as an assistant professor and began a new research line on cellular agriculture, also called cultivated meat.
According to the university, the field applies tissue engineering techniques to make products traditionally derived from animals, offering a more sustainable protein source.
Kilian said he first encountered cultivated meat research in 2023 while a postdoctoral researcher in biomaterials and biofabrication at Stanford University.
Kilian described growing cow-derived cells into a steak as an extremely ambitious and difficult goal that pushes the team to work out how to advance the necessary knowledge and technology.
Editor’s view
Scott James, Research and Innovation Editor
MERLN at Maastricht University has added a cultivated meat research line under assistant professor David Kilian, who joined in 2025, applying its tissue engineering expertise to the goal of producing a steak from cow-derived cells.
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