Scientists announce they are growing meat from stem cells, making a hamburger in a lab.
Dr. Mark Post, head of physiology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, announced his laboratory is producing skeletal muscle tissue from cow stem cells, with the goal of assembling a complete hamburger by this fall.
The Brisbane Times reports the project is funded by a “wealthy, anonymous, individual” aiming to slash the number of cattle slaughtered for food and to reduce a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
“Meat demand is going to double in the next 40 years and right now we are using 70 per cent of all our agricultural capacity to grow meat through livestock,” Dr. Post said in the post.
It will be unsustainable to feed future populations with present livestock farming methods.
In addition to lab-meat being a humane alternative to slaughtering animals, “Livestock farming is responsible for an estimated 14 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases. A significant portion of these emissions come from methane, which, in terms of its contribution to global warming, is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. The U.S. Food and Agriculture Organization says that agricultural methane output could increase 60 percent by 2030.” Check it.
Burger Replication
The first step in the Reality of food replication technology has been achieved. The Daily Mail Science correspondent Fiona Macrae breaks it down, “Meats could also be made extra-healthy by boosting their content of ‘good’ fats. Far fewer animals would have to be kept to satisfy the appetite for meat. The stem cell’s extraordinary ability to grow and multiply means that a cells taken from a single cow could produce a million times more burgers than if the animal was slaughtered for meat.” Check it.
The mass-production growing of meat in the lab will provide more humane and sustainable means of food production in the future.
Check it. Scientist tries to make first laboratory hamburger.
“Scientists in Holland have been trying to grow meat that they hope could be used to create the world’s first laboratory hamburger later this year.
Food scientists are trying to find a more environmentally friendly way to get meat than rearing animals.” -BBC
Check it. First test-tube hamburger ready this autumn, say researchers.
“The world’s first “test-tube” meat, a hamburger made from a cow’s stem cells, will be produced this autumn, Dutch scientist Mark Post told a major science conference.” -The Malaysian Insider
Pumping the celeb chef spin with Heston Blumenthal, speculation begins on the first test-tube burger tasty tester:
Check it. World’s dearest hamburger at €250000 will come from a lab.
“SCIENTISTS ARE soon to unveil the dearest hamburger in the world – a €250000 special not bought from a butcher but grown in a test tube. A Dutch researcher has developed a bovine cell culturing process and hopes to have celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal fry up the first burger when it arrives this October.” -Irish Times
Check it. Soon ‘test tube’ meat on dining table.
“By generating strips of meat from stem cells, researchers believe they can create a product that is identical to a real burger.” -Times of India
With the downer dissent, FoxNews does the mindseed for distrust from the get-go:
Check it. Few foodies are fired up over test tube meat.
“While the news of the world’s first “test-tube meat” made from a cow’s stem cells may be a break through for the scientific community, the thought of a petri dish hamburger is bound to turn the stomach of many Americans.” -FoxNews
Watch it. Lab-grown meat is first step to artificial hamburger.
“At a major science meeting in Canada, Prof Mark Post said synthetic meat could reduce the environmental footprint of meat by up to 60%.” -BBC