​Chicken has historically dominated much of the conversation within and about cellular agriculture, but in the last year, interest has shifted to an unexpected application of cell culture technology: chocolate. As prices skyrocket due to volatility in the cocoa markets, even Hershey—one the world’s biggest chocolate players—called out cellular agriculture by name in its latest earnings call.

​In this joint webinar between the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA) and the Tufts Alt Protein Project, we explore the science and market economics of cell-cultured chocolate.

​Join us for a candid conversation with Dr. Steve Lang, VP of Science and Technology at California Cultured and former VP of Bioprocess Development at Upside Foods, as well as Dr. Rio Stamler, Lead Scientist at California Cultured. We’ll parse out the differences between scaling plant and animal products, and discuss why the timing seems to be right for cultured chocolate.

​Speaker Bios

​Steven Lang, Ph.D., MBA
Vice President of Science and Technology, California Cultured

​Steven Lang is the head of R&D, Bioprocess, and Analytics at California Cultured, where he leads the development of sustainable cocoa and coffee products derived directly from plant cells. He brings extensive experience in cell culture, biomanufacturing, and technical leadership to this innovative field. 

​Steve's career began at Janssen Biotherapeutics, where he led teams focused on cell line development, analytics, and Fast-to-IND projects. He later joined Genentech, leading initiatives in cell line/process development, automation, and digital transformation. Subsequently, he led technical operations and business development at Aragen Life Sciences, a CRO.

​Steve jumped into cultivated meat as VP of Bioprocess and Analytics at Upside Foods. He provided technical, operational and strategic leadership and expertise in the development of robust, high-yielding biomanufacturing cell-based meat. His work included the identification and characterization of critical process parameters that affect yield and taste of chicken products. 

​Steve holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology from Stony Brook University, where he also completed postdoctoral work. He conducted additional postdoctoral research at J&J Pharmaceutical R&D and earned an MBA from Rider University.

​Rio Stamler, Ph.D.
Lead Scientist, California Cultured

​I was born in rural New Mexico and completed my Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Agricultural Biology at New Mexico State University. I furthered my education with a PhD in Molecular Biology, focusing on non-host Phytophthora induced resistance for disease control in capsicum annuum.

​My academic experience spans plant pathology, where I have identified and characterized novel and emerging plant pathogens. Additionally, I have worked in tissue culture-based micropropagation in woody tree species, contributing to the development of a novel propagation system for Pecan rootstock.

​In my industry career, I spent six years at GreenVenus LLC, working on protein and RNA-based biological control strategies, novel plant colonizing microbial expression systems, and a novel Recombinase-based system for protoplast transformation and whole plant regeneration. Currently, I am at California Cultured Inc, leading a cell culture team in the development, characterization, and scale-up of chocolate and coffee cell lines for commercialization.