Test tube meat. Will stem cell steak taste as good as natural

To ensure that everyone has enough food in the future, by 2050 the world should produce2050: A third more mouths to feed / Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 470 million tons of meat per year. This is 40% more than nowProduction of meat worldwide from 2016 to 2021, by type (in million metric tons) / Statista. To cope with a possible food shortage, science is looking for alternative sources of protein today. One of them may be artificial meat.

The first test-tube patty burger appearedWorld's first lab-grown burger is eaten in London / BBC in 2013. It was presented live by the Dutch scientist Mark Post. Since then there have been more one hundred companiesState of the Industry Report: Cultivated meat and seafood / GFI, which are aimed at mass production of artificial meat. Startups make beef, chicken, pork, lamb, white fish and even kangaroo meat.

How meat is grown in laboratories

Artificial meat is not vegan sausages made from soy or tofu. It is obtained by culturing animal cells. In terms of structure and taste, such meat is similar to ordinary meat. The only difference is that for the finished product, you do not need to raise cows or pigs.

To create artificial meat, a piece of muscle is taken from the animal under local anesthesia. Stem cells are isolated from it, which are placed in a bioreactor with a nutrient medium. They are supplied with vitamins, proteins, glucose and other substances so that the sample actively grows. In the process, cells are formed into muscles, fat, connective tissues, and then the final product is packaged and sent to the kitchens. Depending on the type of meat, the process May takeThe science of cultivated meat / GFI from 2 to 8 weeks.

So far, the easiest way to get minced meat. Growing a juicy steak is much more difficult because it is made up of structured muscles. Companies are trying to implement 3D printing to create one-piece pieces. For example, in 2021 the Israeli firm MeaTech 3D printedWorld's largest lab-grown steak unveiled by Israeli firm / The Guardian beef steak, which weighed almost 110 grams.

What does fake meat taste like?

The burger patty that Mark Post introduced in 2013 was dry and dense because it consisted entirely of muscle fibers. Natural meat has blood vessels, nerves, connective tissue and fat cells - all this gives the product a rich taste.

Companies are constantly working on developing technologies so that cultivated steaks and the tenderloin did not differ from the real ones. For example, the Dutch startup Meatable usesA new lab-grown meat startup says it’s overcome a key barrier to making meat without slaughter / Insider pluripotent stem cells from the umbilical cord of animals. They can turn into any other type of cell, from muscle to fat. Theoretically, this will allow you to create a taste close to real meat: muscle and fat cells will grow together - like in ordinary animals.

Is artificial meat safe for health?

Proponents of cultured meat believe that it is safer than conventional meat. For example, the product is unlikely to be infectedE. coli / World Health Organization coli, because laboratory samples do not have digestive organs. Opponents are afraid that growth hormones, which are used to grow cells, can harm a person. In many countries, they are prohibited in traditional animal husbandry - for example, in Europe they cannot be appliedHormones in meat / European Commission since 1981.

In theory, artificial meat and seafood, which are biochemically, genetically and compositionally similar to natural ones, should also be safeFood safety considerations and research priorities for the cultured meat and seafood industry / Wiley Online Library. Most likely, the requirements for the production and quality of products will appear as technology develops.

How much does this meat cost and where can you already try it

Production of the first burger costWorld's first lab-grown burger is eaten in London / BBC at 330 thousand dollars. Today tryThis multibillion-dollar company is selling lab-grown chicken in a world-first / CNBC Make It faux chicken nuggets are available in Singapore - the set costs only $17. The appetizer is produced by the Californian company Eat Just. By the way, she was the first in the world to sell artificial chicken.

Other companies are already on the heels of Eat Just. Let's say the Israeli startup Future Meat Technologies loweredFuture Meat Snags Big Funding, Produces a $1.70 Chicken Breast / Food Processing the cost of artificial chicken breast is up to $1.7 per 100 grams. Another company from Israel Aleph Farms sureAleph Farms attracts US$105M from "‎top-tier partners"‎ as cultivated meat poised for market entry / FoodIngredientsFirst, which will equalize the cost of production with traditional animal husbandry in less than five years. Perhaps this will affect the price.

Will the new production help the environment?

For traditional animal husbandry account forKey facts and findings / Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The production of laboratory meat could reduce this figure. According to forecastsNew studies further the case for cultivated meat over conventional meat in the race to net-zero emissions / GFI CE Delft, growing beef in test tubes can reduce environmental impact by 93%, pork by 53%, and chicken by 29%. But it is important that a third of the energy for production comes from renewable sources. These include, for example, sunlight, water and wind.

Researchers at the Oxford Martin School considerIs lab-grown meat really better for the environment? / University of Oxfordthat simply replacing traditional production with artificial production will not bring results. If energy systems continue to depend on fossil fuels, the damage to nature could be comparable.

Another important issue is the ethical side of production. Artificial meat can be interesting for vegetarians, because for its cultivation it is necessary far lessThe Myth of Cultured Meat: A Review / Frontiers animals. But still, a few chickens or cows will be needed to take cages from them.

Religious authorities also didn't decideThe Myth of Cultured Meat: A Review / Frontierswhether such meat will be kosher or halal - that is, suitable for food for Jews and Muslims. For example, some rabbis believe that no artificial meat can be considered kosher. And others believe that it is possible if cells for cultivation were taken from a slaughtered kosher animal - for example, a cow or a sheep.