Interview with Dr. Regina Hecker

In September this year Dr. Regina Hecker from Blue Horizon Ventures joined our board. We spoke with Regina about her impressive background and involvement with Mosa Meat so far.

Welcome to the Mosa Meat team, Regina! What are you most excited about when it comes to working with us?

Thank you for the warm welcome! I am both excited and feel honoured to work with an exceptional team on producing the first meat that is truly fair, tasty and sustainable.

Can you tell us a bit more about your involvement with Mosa Meat, including your focus on the board - science, scaling, and regulatory?

It is a great pleasure to serve on the board of Mosa Meat and have the opportunity to support where I can. I was fortunate to spend the majority of my academic career working with muscle cell lines and tissue which allows me to integrate alternative and fresh views when we are addressing challenges and questions for the development of cultured meat.

In my previous roles in Pharma and Biotech, I have been involved in several upscaling projects with economic and scientific responsibilities and managed together with expert teams several complex regulatory submissions. These experiences and learnings are largely relevant for our mission and will support to navigate through the still young but complex landscape of cultured meat.

You have a really impressive background, including a PhD in Molecular & Cell Biology, Masters degree in Biotechnology Management, and Engineering Biotechnology, and are certified in Plant-based nutrition. Do you find this background useful for working on cultured meat?

The individual disciplines and combining them into interrelated context are helpful to see some of the complexities that are involved when bringing cultivated meat to the shelves. Overall, the more we can anticipate and plan ahead, the better we can address these complexities and ultimately provide consumers with alternatives to conventional meat that will cost the same or less and taste the same or better.

Can you tell us a bit more about Blue Horizon Ventures, and the fund's mission?

Blue Horizon Ventures is a food technology fund that aims to support and promote a positive global impact on the environment, human health and animal welfare. We support the movement towards a more sustainable food system through innovation, technology and entrepreneurship.

Finally, why do you personally want to be a part of bringing cultivated meat to market?

Personally, I care about progressing towards a world without the massive footprint of industrial animal agriculture. This will only be achievable if we give consumers real alternatives to conventionally produced meat that are functionally the same, yet much better for the planet, better for animals and better for public health.

This is why I want to be a part of bringing cultivated meat to the market. I believe that in two generations from now, people will look back and say “Why were we at all raising and slaughtering animals?"