posted by admin on Jul 6
It sounds rather odd to me - but scientists think this could be the way forward!
Bearing in mind that world food shortages are expected - and meat-eaters are getting the blame - this could be a great invention!
Although, would you be so convinced to eat it? But could it be any worse than what they put in sausages already?
Who Is Inventing This Anyway?
There is a race of sorts - so there are players from all over the world. Jason Matheny is a University of Maryland doctoral student who co-authored a paper on in vitro meat techniques expaining it - and recent books have shown an acceptance of other man-made meat-substitutes in the vegetarian market. So, the race was on!
This area of medical science is normally focused on growing tissue to use in human heart surgery - but they are hoping to scale it up! Professor Post is a specialist in tissue engineering and angiogenesis - the growth of new blood vessels - and is part of project aiming to produce muscle tissue outside of an animal in Europe.
However the ultimate aim is to produce meat for commercial purposes on a huge scale without the whole farming part! No more cute cows in fields - or lambs in spring!
How Are They Doing It?
Using biotechnology already available for growing cultures of mammal muscle cells, the team are trying to generate greater growth and better cellular bonding. At the moment the ‘meat’ is more like soggy muscle tissue and has the appearance of a sort of pink jello!
They will need to apply an electrical current to the tissues to get them to grow - as they need to be exercised just like on the body. Basically mammal muscles need to be flexed and used over and over to produce more muscle - just like pumping iron at the gym increases your own muscle size.
However, this is where the progress is halted - it just doesn’t seem to be so easy to get them to work-out! But they are not giving up - the red meat market was quoted by Mintel as being worth over $61 billion last year in the US alone! So it’s worth sticking with!
Why Are They Doing It?
Well, apart from the above financial gains - it will allow countries to use their land to grow other crops - like corn for the growing bio-fuel industry.
There is also a growing world food deficit. Writers are saying that there is simply not enough fertile land available to grow enough food for our ever-growing population. With all the land saved for livestock being released for grains and oil crops - that balance could change.
It could also remove the risks involved with the health of the animals involved, and any pathogens that they might pass on to humans in the process. It could also reduce the need for communities in developing countries from trapping ‘bush-meat’ and risking not only their health but also their environment.
Other Environmental & Ethical Benefits:
Cows release a lot of methane - and we all know that this a greenhouse gas that could increase global warming and speed up the effects of climate change.
Getting rid of the cows will lessen their impact.
Getting rid of the cows would also reduce the numbers of farmed animals that are trapped in our meat-industry. And in-fact an animal rights company were behind a recent campaign to carry out this exact research - hoping to reduce animal suffering in intensive processing farms and abattoirs!
Conclusion:
Whatever the reasons, I don’t think it will be long before some form of this tissue will make it’s way into the food chain - whether as a processed protein ingredient in pet foods or livestock feed.
To get into the human food chain, there will need to a lot more tests and advances - and they are aiming at the non-meat looking foods - sausage, dipper and nugget! I think it will be some while before you eat a test-tube steak!
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