In our mainstream operations on Earth, as well as in our latest experiment in space, our Analytical and Assay Methods team plays an integral role in analyzing the results of our research and planning our development roadmaps. We sat down with Dr. Polina Rabinovich-Toidman, whose nickname is Poli, to better understand her motivations for joining Aleph Farms and to learn about her team’s role in our experiment as part of the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station.
Poli, can you tell us more about your academic and professional background?
My academic journey started at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, where I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Biology. I was always fascinated by science, and fortunately, I was good at it too. In high-school, I majored in both Biology and Chemistry, and I found it natural to continue my studies in academia afterwards. My grandfather was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disorder, an illness that involves the death of certain parts of the brain. That had a great impact on me and motivated me to investigate the mechanisms involved in the pathology of neurodegenerative disorders.
I continued my Master of Science at the faculty of Medicine at the Technion, where I focused my research on Neurobiology. After completing my studies, I wanted to gain some experience in the industry and make sure that I’m familiar with fields that are outside of academia. I worked at several medical startups as a research associate, focused on cell-culture and cell-based assay development.
After spending a few years in the industry, I decided to pursue my PhD at the Tel Aviv University, and deepen my knowledge in neurodegenerative diseases, and ALS in particular. I continued my industrial journey after I completed my PhD, and for several years I focused on the development of therapeutic antibodies.
My friend, Ilona Koren, who’s a scientist at Aleph Farms, approached me with an intriguing opportunity to join a cultivated meat company. I was familiar with the concept, and after being introduced to the team, I knew it was my next endeavor. I joined Aleph almost three years ago as a Senior Scientist in the R&D department and very soon after, I was promoted to lead the analytical unit and established the Analytical Methods group. Today, we have four team members in the group, and we look forward to expanding the group in the coming months.
Do you have any mentors?
My mom is the most valuable mentor in my lifetime. She’s a retired family doctor, and I draw so much inspiration from her. She did an ‘Aliyah’ from Moldova to Israel in the 90’s, and as a single mom, she raised my brother and me in Ashdod, Israel.
What is your focus of work at Aleph Farms?
Together with my team, we serve as the ‘eyes of other departments’. We develop methods and assays that assess the state of the cow cells that comprise our steak. Our results provide a means of analyzing the behavior and functional activities of our cells.
For example, we help our scientists at Aleph Farms to identify specific cells and monitor their growth and differentiation. We follow the cell markers that are specifically expressed at a specific time in a specific cell.
Our team knows the entire history of the living cow from which we isolated the starting cells, and we follow the stability of the cell culture through the production process to observe the expected characteristics of each differentiated cell. Our cells are prepared as a raw material for producing our cultivated steak, and we are thoroughly screening the cell banks to ensure that only high quality and safe cells are used for the production.
Over the last few years, we have learned about the features of our cells at every stage of development as part of our R&D studies. We are now using these definitions to monitor and control our production process in the pilot facility we recently established, and are using our tools to characterize the final product and the process controls.
We’ve experienced an extensive growth of the R&D department at Aleph Farms, which includes 50 members today. As we continue to scale the R&D department, our analytical methods group is working to establish automatic high-throughput methods through implementation of robotic systems. These systems will enable faster, but still accurate analysis and characterization of our cow cells and our cell-cultured products.
What is your team’s role in the Rakia Mission?
After our cells returned from the International Space Station (ISS) to our headquarters in Israel, my team has been responsible for collecting the RNA from our cow cells and analyzing all the genes that are expressed in them. We work together with our space research team to understand the differences between the gene expression profile of our cells in the control group on earth in full gravity, versus the cells grown aboard the ISS in microgravity. From these comparisons, we aim to learn what would be the best way to commercially produce our cultivated meat in space.
Infographics explaining the experiment of Aleph Farms as part of Rakia Mission/Ax-1
What sort of characteristics do you look for when you recruit team members?
First, I look for trustworthy people, with passion for what they do. Then, I look for learning capabilities, critical thinking and analytical skills. We are currently expanding our team and are looking for candidates with a strong background in molecular biology and flow cytometry. The job description can be found HERE.
What are your hobbies and hidden talents?
I love painting.
How would you describe Aleph Farms in three words?
Make it happen.
