Photo of Ka Yi Ling

Biotechnology & medicine

Ka Yi Ling

Bringing delicious and healthy crustacean meat to consumers by harvesting cells instead of animals
Ka Yi Ling

Year Honored
2020

Organization
Shiok Meats

Region
Asia Pacific

Hails From
Singapore

The way the world eats at present is unsustainable and unhealthy for the environment, animals, and ourselves. It is impossible to produce the amount of seafood required to feed the growing population by 2050. Shiok Meats have created a solution by cultivating meat in the lab. By using stem cells and biotechnology, cultivated crustacean meats can be brought to your table that are health-, animal-, and environment-friendly. 


About Ka Yi Ling

Ka Yi is a developmental and stem cell biologist with over 10 years of expertise in tracing and studying stem cells during development. Ka Yi received the prestigious A*STAR’s National Science Scholarship and graduated with a Bachelor’s and PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She worked closely with stem cell and developmental biology experts like James Thomson, Davor Solter, and Barbara Knowles. Following graduation, Ka Yi did her postdoc at IMCB, A*STAR in Singapore. She is an active science communicator since her days in Madison and frequently takes part in science outreach and speaks at food sustainability and career management events. She also did a podcast called “Science Now” and “Life after PhD” with fellow colleagues and scholars. Ka Yi is passionate about marrying her experience in biotech research and her love for food to produce sustainable food products. In August 2018, she co-founded a cell-based crustaceans startup called Shiok Meats, along with Dr Sandhya Sriram.