Difference between revisions of "Food/In-vitro meat"
(New page: Using the same methods as regenerative medicine, it is becoming possible to take a few cells from the muscle of an animal an...) |
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| + | <blockquote>''"Fifty years hence, we shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium."'' </blockquote><div style="text-align: right; direction: ltr; margin-left: 1em;">{{em}} Winston Churchill, 1931</div> | ||
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Using the same methods as [[New_treatments#Tissue_engineering_and_regenerative_medicine|regenerative medicine]], it is becoming possible to take a few cells from the muscle of an animal and {{em}} by exposing them to the right conditions {{em}} encourage them to grow into a large sheet of meat. | Using the same methods as [[New_treatments#Tissue_engineering_and_regenerative_medicine|regenerative medicine]], it is becoming possible to take a few cells from the muscle of an animal and {{em}} by exposing them to the right conditions {{em}} encourage them to grow into a large sheet of meat. | ||
In-vitro meat has already been created successfully <sup>[http://www.gizmag.com/scientists-grow-meat-in-a-lab/13478/]</sup>, but there is still work to be done on making it efficient enough to do on a large scale and on getting the texture and taste right. Muscle grown in this way has never been exercised, so it has a wasted texture. However, researchers are confident they can overcome these challenges. | In-vitro meat has already been created successfully <sup>[http://www.gizmag.com/scientists-grow-meat-in-a-lab/13478/]</sup>, but there is still work to be done on making it efficient enough to do on a large scale and on getting the texture and taste right. Muscle grown in this way has never been exercised, so it has a wasted texture. However, researchers are confident they can overcome these challenges. | ||
| − | If this technique is perfected, it would be possible to grow millions of kilos of meat from a single animal. This would require much less land, water and energy than raising livestock, and enable us to | + | If this technique is perfected, it would be possible to grow millions of kilos of meat from cells taken from a single animal. This would require much less land, water and energy than raising livestock, and enable us to enjoy our steaks without animals dying or suffering. The risk of contaminated or infected meat would be greatly reduced by controlling the medium in which the meat is grown. This precise control of the growth-medium would also allow us to create meat with a desirable nutritional profile (much like the controlled environment growing of plants described above). |
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| + | The same method could also be applied to creating leather, fur and other animal products. | ||
Revision as of 15:16, 20 August 2010
"Fifty years hence, we shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium."
Using the same methods as regenerative medicine, it is becoming possible to take a few cells from the muscle of an animal and — by exposing them to the right conditions — encourage them to grow into a large sheet of meat.
In-vitro meat has already been created successfully [1], but there is still work to be done on making it efficient enough to do on a large scale and on getting the texture and taste right. Muscle grown in this way has never been exercised, so it has a wasted texture. However, researchers are confident they can overcome these challenges.
If this technique is perfected, it would be possible to grow millions of kilos of meat from cells taken from a single animal. This would require much less land, water and energy than raising livestock, and enable us to enjoy our steaks without animals dying or suffering. The risk of contaminated or infected meat would be greatly reduced by controlling the medium in which the meat is grown. This precise control of the growth-medium would also allow us to create meat with a desirable nutritional profile (much like the controlled environment growing of plants described above).
The same method could also be applied to creating leather, fur and other animal products.
