Factory-grown meat is coming
February 29, 2012
(Credit: Len Rizzi/Wikimedia Commons)
Dr. Mark Post of Eindhoven University in the Netherlands hopes to produce meat in factories, The Economist reports.
He derives stem cells from cattle muscle,which are then multiplied a millionfold before they are put in Petri dishes and allowed to turn into muscle cells.
He plant to scale the process up by growing the cells on small spheres floating in tanks. Ultimately, he will use scaffolds made of biodegradable polymer tubes to deliver nutrients and oxygen to the interior of the meat.
The nutrients themselves could come from conventional crops, but Post also plans to use algae, which grow faster than vascular plants, to provide the necessary amino acids, sugars and fats.
In a presentation on Advances, Challenges, and Prospects for Cultivation of Tissue-Engineered Meat given at the AAAS annual meeting on Feb. 19, Post said that there is a tremendous amount of work ahead to eventually reach an efficient, cost-effective and high quality meat product, but most of these steps are of a technical nature.
The versatility of the culture process may also result in alternative meat products that, for instance, contain healthier fatty acids, or are blends of various stem-cell sources.
Comments (36)
by Davide Pintus
And let’s say goodbye to the criminal use of antibiotics in livestock farming, to the idiocy of producing an entire cow when you only need its meat, to the unnecessary pain dealt to living creatures, to the mad cow disease…
by NakedApe
I remember the fracas over “test-tube babies”, some years back. Today, this is a commonly done procedure and nobody thinks twice about it. If the artificial meat would be healthy, tasty and nutritious (perhaps with a lower fat content) then WHY NOT? This would do wonders for our ecology because cows are a huge burden on it. Just drive by a feed-lot or a slaughterhouse and you will smell the horror that’s going on in there. I pity the poor animals, frankly. If we could do away with this then our civilization would benefit greatly on several different levels. And we wouldn’t even have to give up our beloved steaks and hamburgers.
by Lord Penguin
I’d certainly eat the synthetic meat instead of regular meat if there aren’t any issues in health and if it’s affordable (and synthetic meat could be easily made to be more healthy, because of the way it’s created, without further harming animals through genetic engineering).
Also, maybe synthetic eggs could also be created? After all, chickens have no problem creating eggs, we could use the same processes chickens do, with a machine.
by Pete Fowler
Well, Pan, I lived in Qatar, where you’re not allowed to buy real pork but pork-flavoured TVP is legal. Synthetic human flesh, what’s the difference?
by Luis Mesquita
This tech is so wonderfull. It will enable to stop the carnage on which mordern society relies for feeding.
This will be a further step on creating an humanity in a true sense of the word. I really hope this to thrive and to be a big sucess.
“As long as there are slaughterhouses there will be battlefields. A vegetarian diet is the acid test of humanitarianism”
Leo Tolstoy
by SpottedMarley
I can’t wait to not taste some ever!
by Grandbeauch
O M G Soylent Green is coming……..
by Spikosauropod
{i}Pan~ said: “I wonder if it will be ok to make human burgers”
Of all the perverse applications of this technology, this one escaped me.
It is legal to drink human blood. There are already Sanguinarians that do it on a regular basis. With that precedent, I can’t see how anyone could make a legal argument against eating human flesh. Just as there is a vampire lifestyle subculture there will probably be a ghoul lifestyle subculture. Probably, someone could prevent anyone from eating flesh made from their own stem cells.
by Tomas_James
I’m all for this, and the biased against new technology fades after about the first (human) generation, meaning about 20-25 years after being invented and deployed. So in another 25 years, genetic modified food, factory-grown food, and most other new technologies (new now, but old by then) will be seen as normal, and comfortable.
by John Doe
I think the most interesting aspect here is the ability to modify the food to increase its nutritional content and to reduce the unhealthy aspects.
One day I shall dine on steak every meal and only get healthier with each bite. This is what the future shall be made of.
by Kudos an klang
hopefully it wll make burger king cheaper because its just to dam expensive an tasty
by {i}Pan~
Cost needs to come down, then we’re good to go.
Roll em out.
I wonder if it will be ok to make human burgers ;)
by melajara
I already asked such an iconoclastic question once. Now consider this pervert variant. If human burgers are not authorized, what about an autophagic burger, i.e. a burger grown from your own cells ;-)
For the naysayers I’ll reply that autophagy is a very mundane operation, it’s a usual way for recycling our own cell material (autolysis).
At the macroscopic level it’s common enough when, e.g. someone is swallowing superficial skin from his/her lips.
by Nyk
I would be weary of eating anything like this. Not because ofconservatism, but because it is a new way for the Corporations and the State to control us. I imagine there will be a powerful left-wing lobby to “end the suffering” of animals to be slaughtered, by banning live meat. The Corporations will be offered a monopoly on a silver platter, as raising your own food will be deemed illegal and the numbers of livestock will decrease. The artificial meat-in-the-lab will gradually rise in price, to the point where there will be no savings over live meat. The State will cheer at being given a new instrument of control: if you are in trouble politically, pass legislation that will force the Corporations to raise the prices of food to the point protesters start starving.
Ain’t technology wonderful? Eurasia has always been at war with Eastasia and people eating live meat were barbarians. Oh sure, you disagree. You are within your rights, yes. Oh, what’s that I hear? It appears the factory-produced meat at the store near you has tripled in price. Oh, so you’ve changed your mind about Eastasia and the war? Well, wouldn’t you know, the market does it again: the price of meat just halved!
by Giulio Prisco
Well, the corporations and the state have always and will always use all available means to control us, and we will always have to find ways to resist. Relinquishment of useful technologies is not a sensible option, and it would result in a monopoly of the corporations and the state. On the contrary, useful technologies should be open sourced and made available to all free persons to resist the corporations and the state.
by he who is
Except that they can already do that, because the U.S., for instance, subsidizes corn and meat heavily to keep prices low. Were they to drop those subsidies (and reveal the “true price” of the product), debt (or at least spending) would decrease significantly, but consumers would have to pay much more for their food.
But most poor citizens can’t raise their own cattle or grow corn at home. With something like this, there’s the slight possibility that you could “manufacture” your own meat with nothing more than algae in a pot and some stem cells. Thus, making food sustainable enough for every person to grow their own.
Of course, that’s all speculation. It’s quite possible that the govt. will move on from corn to factory-grown meat. But I can’t see how that would change much, because they’re already controlling food markets to a ridiculous extent.
by NanoSaw
Nano Factory Replicators and Synthetic Meat and NanoRobots are INEVITABLE. You cannot put the genie back into the bottle. They are the natural and logical conclusion from chemistry and human technology.
The Open Source movement will encompass the entire world. How could any government or corporation stop it? They cannot. The People will have Nano Replicators to make every conceivable material item and object, and will produce unlimited amounts of food and matter from natural energy from solar and the medium, and, from the atoms freely available. If governments and corporates try to use violence the People will defend themselves and use the same technologies.
by Ian
Finally we are making some progress. This issue or possibility was first explored by IPO – The “International Protein Organisation” in Australia in the 1960′s.
by Coyotl
Muscle cells are not the only factor in making a burger. To replicate beef, it needs to have some adipose tissue, blood tissue and some connective tissue proper to taste similar to the actual thing IMO.
by Spikosauropod
To the moderators:
Again, you have almost immediately approved a comment with a clear anti-religious and anti-conservative slant, but you hesitate to approve a comment that leans even slightly the other way.
Maestro said: “Then there’s the purists and conservatives who will die claiming that they will never buy or consume factory-grown meat, citing that there’s a “holy” difference between consuming meat from an animal that lived and meat that came from a factory.”
This is clearly an insult to religious conservatives and you approved it without hesitation, but you did not approve my much more moderate comment:
” If this meat tastes good and has a good mouth feel, I will eat it just to escape the guilt of eating murdered animals.
That makes one of us. In order for two people to be willing to eat this meat, marketers will have to work miracles to overcome the inevitable ick factor. Otherwise, people like my sister will just stick with eating chicken and fish—murdered animals nevertheless, but creatures they apparently don’t respect.
I suppose, with 3D printing, it will be possible to mass produce simulated meat cuts. We will be able to eat a tenderloin steak worthy of Homer Simpson or a rack of ribs that would give Fred Flintstone pause.”
Admit it: you clearly have an anti-religious anti-conservative agenda. You are using this site, that should be impartial, as a platform for liberal propaganda.
by Giulio Prisco
@Spikosauropod – your previous comment is here on this page I believe.
Re “[Maestro's comment] is clearly an insult to religious conservatives”
I don’t read it as an insult to anyone. I think it is important to have _the option_ of synthetic meat. Then, those who wants to eat it will eat it, and those who don’t want to eat it will not eat it. I will not question the preferences of others, and I hope others will not question mine.
by Spikosauropod
To the moderators:
Thank you for restoring voice.
Spikosauropod
by Giulio Prisco
YW. The system automatically flags comments of new posters for moderation. This is a common anti-spam measure.
by Spikosauropod
I’m not even kind of a new poster. I was reading and posting to this site years ago before the format changed. I have been posting with the same identity, password, and email since the format changed.
The pattern is obvious. I forgive you. Accept that.
by Editor
As I noted below, posts are (often) held for moderation automatically by the WordPress spam filter.
by Editor
Giulio: it also flags comments of old posters where the post contains a string that matches suspect spam wording. Editors must manually override in that case, and that may take time.
by Spikosauropod
I accept your explanation for now. Thank you for posting my objection so that the issue will be out in the open. I will be logging out until this evening.
Spikosauropod
by Len
Waaa Waaa Waaa. Give it and yourself to mature.!!!!!
by Roleren
As long as you can connect it to the case, we can say whatever we want on this site, it’s called freedom of speech. And yes, religion have no privilege to be blocked from criticism, like anything else.
Let me say something: I like hamburgers->this meat will piss of a lot of religious people->I hate religion! -> I like Richard Dawkins-> I hate satan and god.-> I like Ray Kurzweil.
by Spikosauropod
To Len and Roleren:
Your words have force because people are actually reading them. I can guarantee that you wouldn’t feel the same way if you noticed that no one would ever see the comments you left here.
I revel in your naïve utterances, but I must protest ANYONE having no voice. I have nothing more to say on the subject for now.
by Editor
Roleren said: “…we can say whatever we want on this site, it’s called freedom of speech.” Actually, you can’t. You are posting on a private U.S. website and we reserve the full option of deleting any posts we deem inappropriate for any reason and under any conditions. Under U.S. federal law, you have no such right. The “freedom of speech” first amendment to the U.S. Constitution only states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
by The Sky Hedgehogian Maestro
Uh… no, dude? What I meant was that there would be people who would starkly believe that eating meat that wasn’t alive would not be same as eating slaughtered meat. Same as people who think vinyl is better than CDs.
by NanoSaw
I am a born again Bible believing King James only Christian. I 100 percent support the development of molecular nanotechnology and Singularity technologies. I believe the true Singularity will be when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to Earth and sets up His Divine Millenial Kingdom. Before that, the Anti Christ will use the promise of Singularity technology (with accompanying false signs and wonders) to lure people to take his nano implanted Beast Mark. Beware, everyone. Ray Kurzweil, my fellow Jew. I love you and admire you and respect you and your cadre of people. I have all of your books and I have read your materials. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved forever Eternally Secure: Once you believe in Jesus as God and only Savior/Messiah, you are eternally secure and will never burn in Hellfire.
Everyone here: If you become a born again believer in Jesus you will have access to ALL Singularity technologies you dream of, plus things we cannot even fully imagine, like quantum control of mass and energy and nonlocal “Angel Technologies”. All you have to do is trust in Jesus as your only eternal Savior. Its that SIMPLE!!!
I am NOT a Luddite. I HATE Luddism. It is Satanic. God told Adam and Eve to be good stewards over the earth and the resources and living things. This includes the Technology mandate and that includes nanotech and computers. Now, we should be careful about areas of sinful applications but the tech in and of itself is not bad or evil in any way. THANK YOU MY BROTHER RAYMOND KURZWEIL for writing your books like the Age of Spiritual Machines and The Singularity is Near. I love you my brother.
by melajara
Those are still natural cells and not synthetic biology atop raw atomic parts.
If, upon close examination, there is no difference in the quality of the engineered meat versus the animal meat, then objectively you should chew the engineered version.
Billions of factory-farmed chickens
(see e.g. http://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/wp-content/uploads/chickens-4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2007/05/the-difficult-lives-and-deaths-of-factory-farmed-chickens/&h=375&w=550&sz=91&tbnid=Bsb0X9fXwCDkbM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=132&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfactory-farmed%2Bpoultry%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=factory-farmed+poultry&docid=7_mLkNkx61xXBM&hl=de&sa=X&ei=sCpOT__0K8vU4QTmp7jbAg&sqi=2&ved=0CDYQ9QEwAg&dur=4965)
born just to be slain for your convenience would thank you for your choice.
by The Sky Hedgehogian Maestro
The problem will not be the making of the meat. The real problem shall be the “yuck” factor that most will have- eating anything made in a factory naturally causes us humans to gag as it is (we think it is) probably tasteless, emotionless, and almost certainly swarming with government-controlled nanobots. Then there’s the purists and conservatives who will die claiming that they will never buy or consume factory-grown meat, citing that there’s a “holy” difference between consuming meat from an animal that lived and meat that came from a factory.
by Spikosauropod
If this meat tastes good and has a good mouth feel, I will eat it just to escape the guilt of eating murdered animals.
That makes one of us. In order for two people to be willing to eat this meat, marketers will have to work miracles to overcome the inevitable ick factor. Otherwise, people like my sister will just stick with eating chicken and fish—murdered animals nevertheless, but creatures they apparently don’t respect.
I suppose, with 3D printing, it will be possible to mass produce simulated meat cuts. We will be able to eat a tenderloin steak worthy of Homer Simpson or a rack of ribs that would give Fred Flintstone pause.