Undergraduate Minor in Cellular Agriculture

Tufts' undergraduate minor in cellular agriculture is the world's first undergraduate degree dedicated specifically to this emerging field. With interdisciplinary coursework, it prepares students with skills in tissue engineering (the foundation of cultivated meat) in order to grow nutritious, protein-rich foods with environmental and societal benefits. The minor is a convergence of many disciplines and available to students both in the School of Engineering and the School of Arts & Sciences.

Program Director: David Kaplan, Distinguished Professor and Stern Family Professor of Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Photo of the two students featured in the article standing side by side.

Making Students’ Cellular Agriculture Dreams Come True

This fall, Tufts launched the world’s first undergraduate degree in cellular agriculture—a minor that allows students to take a deep dive into the groundbreaking field.

Requirements

A minor in Cellular Agriculture consists of six courses. Students interested in the minor should speak with Program Director David Kaplan or contact Department Manager Lorin Polidora early in their undergraduate careers to ensure the requirements for the minor are met.

Please utilize the Cellular Agriculture Minor Tracking Form as you progress through the program. Courses that are part of a minor may NOT be taken pass/fail.

Core (two courses)

These courses are required, no substitutions allowed.

BME-0173: Cellular Agriculture & Biofabricated Foods (Fall semester)
BME-0174: Cellular Agriculture & Cultured Meat Lab (Spring semester)

Project (one course)

This component is required, substitutions are allowed at the discretion of minor program director. The research project must be approved prior to registration.

BME-0091: Undergraduate Research (Fall)
or BME-0092: Undergraduate Research (Spring)

Electives (three courses)

Choose courses from the list below. Alternative courses may be proposed based on student interest, and they must be approved by the minor program director prior to enrollment.

Select two courses from:

ANTH-0030: Food, Nutrition, and Culture
ANTH-0142: American Meat
BIO-0185: Food4All: Ecology, Technology, & Sustainability
CHBE-0102: Reactor Design
CHBE-0159: Synthetic Biology
CHBE-0166: Cell & Microbe Cultivation
ENV-0009: Food Systems: From Farm to Table
ENV-0100: Sustainability in Action
ENV-0190: Practicing in Food Systems
ME-0125: Mechanics of Materials at the Micro & Nano Scale
NU-0106: Nutrition-Related Consumer Marketing
NU-0161: Sustainability on the Farm
NU-0163: Sustainability and Food Consumer
STS-0195: Seminar: Politics, Policies, and Risk in Science and Technology

Select one course from:

BME-0184: BME Entrepreneurship & Strategy
EM-0052: Technical & Managerial Communication
ENT-0100: Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurial Thinking
ENT-0107: Entrepreneurial Leadership
ENT-0109: Societal Aspects of Design: Integration, Innovation, and Impact
ENT-0162: Bringing Products to Market
NU-0189: Nutrition and Entrepreneurship