Scientists have grown artificial meat. Food for the near future. How meat is prepared from a test tube and why we will all eat it soon (16 photos) Is it possible to buy meat from a test tube already

No sooner had humanity tasted real space food in tubes - the dream of every child who wants to become an astronaut, as scientists shocked them with new news: soon there will not be a single vegetarian on Earth. Thanks to the latest developments of great minds, soon we will not have to kill animals for a piece of meat, the world will get rid of hunger. While artificial meat is growing in test tubes, you can try which is sold in many stores. The history of human development - food in tubes and meat grown in a test tube, we will tell in today's article.

The evolution of the tube

Today it is associated with a tube, and many kids, squeezing toothpaste onto a brush, imagine themselves conquerors of the boundless space surrounding all the planets. It is in tubes that you can buy borscht or a second course in order to arrange a themed space dinner for the family in the evening, but real astronauts have almost forgotten about aluminum tubes, and now they eat food packed in vacuum "dishes", tin cans.

The first food storage tubes were invented in Estonia, where, since 1964, any housewife could purchase berry jelly in such a package, and the family applied a treat to a bun with great convenience. It turned out that the standards of the tubes manufactured by the Baltic Chemical Combine fully complied not only with the standards of this country, but also with space ones. That is why Estonia has become the largest contractor producing food packaging for space explorers.

The too narrow neck of the tube did not allow the astronauts to eat comfortably, as pieces of food simply got stuck in it, and in 1970 the Tiraspol plant was able to "fit" the neck to a more convenient size, expanding it by 2 millimeters, which turned out to be quite enough for space food to become more like homemade, with pieces of meat and vegetables.

In 1982, scientists again slightly modified the packaging for space food. began to be placed in special bags, where hot water was poured before use to make the food warm.

Why can't you eat hamburgers in space?

The first people who tried to eat in space differently than representatives of other countries were astronauts from the United States. Initially, the diet was represented by dried products, which were filled with water before use. Such food did not suit everyone, and the conquerors of space secretly brought normal food to the ship. So many people remember the incident that happened to astronaut John Young, who carried a real sandwich on board. In zero gravity conditions, it turned out to be impossible to eat this dish, the bun scattered into small crumbs throughout the ship, and throughout the entire further flight, the life of the crew turned into a real nightmare.

By the 1980s, tube food had become the only option for adequate nutrition for astronauts, and had over three hundred items on its menu. Today it is not so extensive, the number of dishes offered has almost halved.

What do Russian cosmonauts eat today?

Nowadays, food in tubes has almost completely lost its relevance. Dishes are packed in special vacuum packaging, and the food is freeze-dried before packaging. In this form, it is easier to preserve all the microelements and vitamins necessary for the body, the taste of freshly prepared food, its original appearance, and such products are stored at any temperature for up to five years. The diet of Russian space explorers includes borscht, mushroom soup, hodgepodge, rice with stewed vegetables, Greek salad and green bean salad, beef tongue, poultry, beef and pork, entrecote, scrambled eggs with chicken liver, bread that cannot crumble, cottage cheese , and many other dishes. By the way, only Russian scientists were able to adapt cottage cheese to a long stay in space, and our cosmonauts are happy to share this product with their foreign colleagues.

It is worth noting that the daily food of one cosmonaut costs the state 20 thousand rubles. This price does not depend on the products and packaging techniques, the high cost of food is justified by the delivery of products on board, which costs 7 thousand dollars per kilogram of cargo.

Food for American astronauts

Unlike Russian cosmonauts, who do not have microwave ovens on board and can boast of having such necessary equipment. As a result, their diet is more varied. They can afford semi-finished products. Otherwise, the dishes are similar, just like the Russians, American colleagues eat freeze-dried foods. The specificity of the nutrition of astronauts from the United States is a large amount of citrus fruits, while our guys prefer grapes and apples.

Other countries

Even in space, the Japanese cannot do without traditional sushi, a variety of green teas, noodle soup and soy sauce.

Chinese astronauts eat food that is closer to what we are used to. The basis of their diet is rice, pork and chicken.

The French can boast of the most exotic dishes. They always have truffles and cheese on board. There was a case when a French cosmonaut was refused to bring moldy cheese onto the ship. Scientists were afraid that this fungus could affect the entire biological environment on the orbital station.

The future of space lies in artificial meat

Test-tube meat, home-grown vegetables and fruits in the garden on a spaceship - this is the future of space exploration. Scientists have been working for many years on the creation of a ship capable of transporting astronauts to Mars, having traveled a long journey of several years.

But the ship is not the only problem, scientists are also working on creating a real vegetable garden where astronauts can grow vegetables. For several years, tests have been underway to grow artificial meat, which astronauts will also be able to grow on their own so that the food is complete. It is this product that will become the future not only of the space industry, but of all mankind.

Meat without meat

Scientists have learned how to create artificial meat, and this news pleased most people. We are predators by nature, and the body simply needs meat and the substances it contains to function normally. Many people became vegetarians because of their great love for animals, some because of a disease that does not allow them to eat such food, and someone simply cannot afford to eat meat dishes every day, because the budget is small.

All these problems are already being solved, and soon every inhabitant of the planet will be a meat-eater, because not a single animal will suffer during the production of the product, it will be practically harmless, since absolutely all moments are taken into account when growing meat in a test tube.

Who needs it?

Some will ask: "What is all this trouble for? We have grown throughout history real grunts, lowing and clucking, why not continue?". The thing is that humanity is growing at an incredible speed, there will simply not be enough meat for everyone in the near future, and in some countries people are already really starving, since this product is too expensive.

In addition to the fight against hunger, the problem of maintaining slaughterhouses, which prevent animal advocates from sleeping normally at night, will disappear. No sweet creature would ever give up its life to feed a man again.

In addition to animals, growing artificial meat will save many acres of land that will be used to build housing for people, not farms. We will also be able to preserve the environment, which, with global warming, hints that it is time to reduce the flow of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Artificial meat consumes 40% less energy, 98% less land is needed to grow it, 95% less greenhouse gas and methane are emitted, which lead to global warming, and the consumption of clean water will be significantly reduced.

By 2050, grown artificial meat will become available to everyone, it will be many times cheaper than real meat, and its quantity will satisfy the need for food of all mankind.

History of Test Tube Meat

Winston Churchill said that one day we will raise one chicken to eat only breasts every day, and the bird itself will remain alive, giving once a few cells that will grow in a separate environment. The prophecy of the great president began to come true in 2000, when scientists presented the result of their experiment, growing a small piece of meat from cells taken from a goldfish.

In 2001, NASA began to reflect on the need of astronauts for a long-term and self-renewable source of food, and experiments began on growing turkey meat.

In 2009, scientists from the Netherlands announced that they had succeeded in growing a piece of pork. They presented the result of their work to the discussion of the entire scientific world, and thus were able to find many sponsors who were ready to invest in the development of this industry.

Hamburger with artificial meat

A piece of pork, grown by scientists, was the first success in the field of growing meat in a test tube. It was decided to work further in the given direction, and funding was not long in coming. Wealthy sponsors from all over the world began to invest in development, and they themselves decided to remain in the shadows, not disclosing their names.

Scientist Mark Post took up beef farming and promised that in 2012 he would provide a piece that would be enough to make one hamburger. He just immediately warned that the price of this piece would be exorbitant, and the taste would not be able to match real meat, but this is just the beginning!

Artificial meat from cow stem cells was able to grow to a weight of 140 grams by 2013, and, as promised, the long-awaited hamburger was prepared from it. Only the dish was not put up for auction, but was fed for free to nutritionist Hanni Rutzer in order to get a professional assessment of the finished first artificial meat suitable for food.

The tasting took place in London, and the "experimental" nutritionist delivered his verdict: meat too dry, completely devoid of fat, but quite edible.

The scientists promised that, with continued funding, they would be able to grow juicy, large cuts of meat in a shorter amount of time. They said that they were able to find out the cause of dryness, and they know how to fix the situation for the better. With positive dynamics on store shelves, affordable and good quality artificial meat will appear in 20 years.

How is meat grown in a test tube?

The production of artificial meat is a rather complicated process. Stem cells are taken from the animal and placed in a special container where they will grow. Cells constantly need oxygen, which in a living being is supplied by blood vessels. Here, the vessels are replaced by bioreactors, in which a sponge-matrix is formed (meat grows in it, it is enriched with oxygen, it removes waste).

There are two types of artificial meat: unbound muscle tissue, full-fledged muscle. Scientists are working hard on the second option. The process is complex, since the correct formation of fibers is necessary, and for this the muscle needs to train daily! That is why the growth is still too long.

Difficulties

Initially, cultivated meat will be expensive, and not every company will dare to introduce it into the ranks of the products familiar to people.

There may also be a problem with a person's trust in such a product. There will be many questions about how genetic modifications will affect the health of the body. Not every person will be able to eat artificial meat, as they will be afraid for their condition, although scientists promise that it will be safer than real meat.

It will take quite a long time for people to get used to the innovation, so this industry will develop more slowly than expected.

Farmers are already beginning to worry about their well-being, as they are afraid that "live meat" will no longer be in demand, and they will be left without work.

However, no matter how pessimistic the predictions are, artificial meat is our future, and the future of the entire planet. Let's look forward to tasting a cutlet that didn't require killing an animal to make!

About a third of the land is used for raising cattle. The livestock sector generates up to 15% of greenhouse gases and wastes billions of tons of fresh water every year. At the same time, the livestock often suffers from diseases, and the consumer runs the risk of encountering salmonella, E. coli and other infectious pathogens from time to time. According to scientists, only artificial meat can save the ever-growing population and the environment.

The first experiments to create meat from a test tube were conducted by NASA in 2001. Then scientists managed to grow a product similar to fish fillet from the cells of a goldfish. At the end of 2009, Dutch biotechnologists grew a meat product from the cells of a live pig. After another 4 years, a cutlet was fried in London from artificially grown meat, which resembled beef in texture and taste.

It is important

You should not confuse imitation meat with a synthetically grown product. In the first case, tempeh, soy texturate and spices are used as a meat substitute, and in the second, we are dealing with real meat grown in a laboratory. Imitation meat is similar to a natural product only in taste, while biotechnology allows you to get real minced meat without killing anyone.

How is artificial meat made?

The technology of growing synthetic meat can be divided into two stages:

Collection of stem cells;
creation of conditions for their cultivation and division.

After sampling, the stem cells are placed in a bioreactor, where a special sponge-matrix is created in which the future meat grows. In the process of growing cells are abundantly supplied with oxygen and nutrients necessary for rapid growth. Since artificially grown meat is a muscle tissue, biotechnologists create special conditions for training cells and the fibers formed from them.

Currently, scientists have learned how to produce two types of meat in a test tube:

Unrelated muscle cells (a kind of meat slurry);
cells connected into interconnected fibers (a more complex technology that provides the usual structure of meat).

Synthetic meat - the benefits and harms

In the United States alone, according to the environmental organization EWG, up to 70% of antibiotics produced are spent on animals. Most of them end up in our stomachs with the meat we eat. Meat from a test tube is devoid of such disadvantages, as it is produced under sterile conditions. Together with the drug threat, the risks of contracting dangerous diseases are greatly reduced, the pathogens of which, despite all the checks, can be contained in any piece of meat. In addition, experts are already talking about the possibility of adjusting the fat content of the final product, which will make it possible to create “healthy” meat.

Also, the use of artificial meat is to save natural resources. Scientists from the University of Amsterdam and Oxford have calculated that in the future the technology under consideration will reduce production space by 98%, and energy consumption and environmental impact by 60%.

As for the possible side effects of switching to synthetic meat, it is too early to talk about them. At the moment, there are no clinical studies that prove the harm of this product.

Artificial meat market - development prospects

According to the EWG, by 2050, global consumption of meat products will double. Sooner or later, modern methods of meat production will not be able to meet the growing demand. Therefore, mankind has no choice but to follow the path of growing laboratory beef and pork on an industrial scale.

The production of the first artificial burger cost scientists $320,000. Today, its price has dropped 30,000 times to $11. Not far away is the hour when a synthetic cutlet with an ideal content of proteins and fats will cost less than a cutlet made from ordinary minced meat. From this moment on, the development of the industry will no longer be stopped.

In the process of its development, special attention was paid to such indicators as appearance, texture and taste. The general concept was to create a vegetable product with the juiciness, flavor and fiber content of real meat.

It is expected that the consumers of "vegetarian meat" will be predominantly vegetarians, the number of which is growing every day. Also, the product is aimed at allergy sufferers, for whom the consumption of meat is a practice that is incompatible with the state of health.

The product is currently being developed by Wageningen University and 11 small businesses in the food industry. A prototype of a mini-workshop for the production of "vegetable meat" has already been created, where sheets of meat 1 cm thick are successfully produced with their further transformation into cutlets, chops, etc. The mini-factory is capable of producing up to 70 kg of product per hour.

The Japanese have learned to synthesize meat from feces

A rather extravagant method of meat production was discovered in Japan. Mitsuyuki Ikeda, working on the problem of processing sewage from the sewer network of Tokyo, discovered bacteria that have the ability to process sewage into proteins. By adding proteins, soy, a dye and a reaction enhancer to them, a scientist from the Okayama laboratory received a meat product. Its nutritional value is determined by:

25% carbs
63% protein
3% fat
9% minerals

It may seem to an ordinary person that the number of people who wanted to taste such a product was zero. But no, in the Land of the Rising Sun there was a whole group of volunteers who expressed a desire to try shitburgers (as the Japanese call them). The product received a positive rating.

It is noted that the taste makes it almost indistinguishable from real meat, and low calorie content determines its compatibility with the principles of dietary nutrition.

Now the cost of fecal meat is ten times higher than the cost of ordinary meat, but in the near future it will become no less affordable. The Japanese government believes that the new product will help in the global fight against hunger, as well as improve the environmental situation.

Note that today the meat industry is responsible for 18% of fumes that exacerbate the greenhouse effect.

Well, let's hope that such meat will not be allowed on the shelves of Russia, or that it can at least be distinguished from real meat.

The Dutch have found a way to stop killing pets

Scientists at Maastricht University decided to compete with Japanese specialists who are developing a substitute for real meat. Unlike their colleagues from the Land of the Rising Sun, Dutch ideas are not distinguished by the radicalness of Japanese shitburgers.

They consist in the use of technologies for growing muscle tissue from stem cells of cows and pigs. The procedure for isolating these cells does not pose a danger and does not harm animals:

Samples are placed in a special environment.
They are fed fetal serum, which is the plasma that remains in the blood after the clot formation process. This serum is a special product excreted from the body of a newborn fetus.
Such manipulations make it possible to obtain strips of tissue resembling muscle in their appearance and properties. This fabric is subjected to daily stretching, which allows you to simulate the work of muscles and "grow" the future steak.

This stage presents some difficulties, because due to the lack of iron (which is in the blood), the tissues turn out to be discolored. The problem was fixed by adding myoglobin. This substance is an iron-rich protein.

Experts say that it is possible to grow a decent amount of such a product in a fairly short period of time - just a couple of months. The catch is that today the legal framework does not allow the sale of meat grown in laboratory conditions. It is assumed that fetal serum may contain substances dangerous to humans.

Amsterdam scientists are not disappointed, but continue their work, concentrating on the search for an ideal synthetic substitute based on some kind of aquatic bacterium.

Perhaps the near future with a similar system for the production of meat products will allow us to stop killing pets.

March 3rd, 2017

If earlier cool meat was vegetarian meat - soy (I remember how I fried cutlets from minced soy), now artificial meat is already actively promoted.

In 2013, biologist Mark Post of the University of Maastricht created the world's first test-tube-grown meat burger. The production of the product cost $325,000. The development of technology has reduced this price many times over, and today a kilogram of artificial meat costs $80, and one burger costs $11. Thus, in four years, the price has decreased by almost 30,000 times. However, scientists still have work to do. As of November 2016, a pound of ground beef cost $3.60, almost 10 times cheaper than test-tube meat.

However, scientists and creators of "meat" startups believe that in 5-10 years, artificial meatballs and hamburgers will be sold in stores at a reasonable price.

According to Next Big Future, there are at least 6 companies that are developing artificial animal products. Hi-Tech has already written about the startup Memphis Meats, which plans to start selling test-tube meatballs in 2-5 years, and is also going to grow steaks and chicken breasts in the laboratory.

Israeli startup SuperMeat cultivates kosher chicken liver, American company Clara Foods synthesizes egg whites, and Perfect Day Foods creates non-animal dairy products. Finally, Mosa Meat, the creator of the first artificial meat burger Mark Post, promises to start selling laboratory beef in the next 4-5 years.

How artificial meat is made

Meat is muscle. Growing muscles in a test tube involves obtaining animal stem cells (required once), creating conditions for their accelerated growth and division.
Cells need to be supplied with oxygen and other nutrients; in animals, this task is performed by blood vessels. Under laboratory conditions, bioreactors are created, where a sponge-matrix is formed in which meat cells grow, being enriched with oxygen and removing waste.

There are two types of artificial meat:
- unconnected muscle cells;
- muscles, meat in the structure we are used to (here, the formation of fibers is required, which complicates the process, since the cells must remain in certain places, this is exactly what a sponge is needed in a bioreactor, muscles must also be exercised for growth).

History

Churchill is credited with a phrase he said back in 1930: "In fifty years we will not absurdly raise a whole chicken to eat only breasts or wings, but we will grow these parts separately in a suitable environment."

In 1969, the American writer Frank Herbert (Frank Herbert), the author of "Dune", in his book "Star under the scourge" (Whipping Star) spoke about pseudo-meat (pseudoflesh): "On several uninhabited planets, where there is still no technology for the production of pseudo-meat, cattle are raised for food." Other science fiction writers also mentioned “meat from a test tube”, for example, Henry Beam Piper (H. Beam Piper) and Larry Niven (Larry Niven).

The “father” and main inspirer of the technology for obtaining “meat from a test tube” is unofficially considered the Dutch scientist Willem van Elen. During the Second World War, he spent several years in Japanese captivity, constantly suffering from a lack of food, and apparently this circumstance aroused in him a further interest in this topic.

The first post-war experiments with growing meat were carried out with goldfish cages (the results were presented to the public in 2000).
On a large-scale rails, the study of the issue began thanks to the study of space. NASA tried to find solutions for a long-term and renewable source of food for astronauts, for long flights, in the 1990s, and as early as 2001, experiments began on growing turkey meat.

Research in this area is being conducted in the USA, Holland, and Norway.

In 2009, Dutch scientists announced that they were able to grow pork.

No animals were harmed

In the summer of 2013, the results of large-scale experiments conducted since October 2011 as part of the Cultured Beef program at Maastricht University in the Netherlands by the head of the Department of Cardiovascular Physiology, Professor Mark Post and his colleagues, were presented in London.

To grow muscle tissue, Professor Post decided not to take embryonic cells, the development of which can be unpredictable, but myosatellites. These are stem cells that are present in the muscles of mammals and become muscle tissue as a result of intense physical exertion. After full-fledged cells grew from the myosatellites in the nutrient solution, muscle fibers began to form from them. To do this, the cells were placed in special water-soluble polymer scaffolds, which not only connected them, but also mechanically provided the fibers with a state of tension, which caused the tissue to grow.

At the initial stage, scientists also used electrical stimulation to “exercise” muscle fibers, but it was soon noticed that it did not bring the desired effect. In addition, the procedure was found to be too expensive for industrial production.

The fibers of the muscle tissue turned out to be quite short, otherwise it could be difficult to supply the cells with nutrients and oxygen. This problem has yet to be solved by creating a modified analogue of the blood supply system. There were difficulties with the creation of adipose tissue, but scientists assure that in the future they will be able to eliminate them.

As a result, the experimenters received a hamburger containing about 140 grams of cultured meat from 20,000 muscle fibers. The color and taste of the product are still far from the usual, there is a lack of fat and dryness of the meat. To give the laboratory beef a normal marketable appearance, it was tinted with beet juice and saffron before cooking.

Despite the fact that the first experience did not cause much enthusiasm, scientists are very enthusiastic. At a minimum, it was possible to prove that people are able to artificially create meat suitable for eating. According to the project participants, synthesized meat is an inevitable future, and not a single animal will suffer!

“We have shown how this happens, now we have to attract sponsors and work on improving the technology,” emphasizes Mark Post. “And of course, we need a meat processing plant that will be the first to master its commercial use.”

By the way, PETA (People for the Responsible Treatment of Animals) has offered a $1 million prize to the first company to supply synthetic meat to stores in at least six US states by 2016.

Meat "in vitro" will save the world

The idea of creating meat in the lab, actually growing the muscle tissue of an animal instead of replacing it with soy or other sources of protein, has been discussed for decades. There are many arguments in its favor - first of all, overcoming the threat of world hunger in the future, protecting animals and the environment.

“Feeding the world is a challenge. I think people don't even understand the impact meat consumption has on our planet, said Ken Cook, one of the initiators of the Cultured Beef project and founder of the influential American environmental organization EWG. - About 18% of greenhouse gases are produced by the meat industry. In total, we use about 1,900 liters of water to get just a pound of meat. In the US, 70% of antibiotics are consumed not by humans, but by animals that are bred on large farms and kept in extreme crowding. By eating such meat, a person endangers himself: he may develop cancer or serious heart disease - the risk increases by 20% due to those substances contained in animal fat. In addition, 70% of the fertile land in the United States is used to provide food for cattle. If this land were used to grow vegetables and fruits, we could feed more people and provide them with healthier food. By 2050, world meat consumption will double. We just can't keep doing what we're doing now. All that remains is to change the way meat is produced.”

According to the Deputy Director for Research at VNIIMP, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Anastasia Semenova, by 2050, the world's population is projected to grow to 9.1 billion people, most of which will be in developing countries. In order to feed itself, humanity will have to increase food production by 70% or more, and the total meat production should reach 470 million tons, which is 200 million tons higher than today's figures. “Given the constant growth of urbanization and the level of income of the population, the production of meat in a test tube for the meat processing industry is of undoubted interest,” she stressed. - For example, this type of meat may be more attractive in the manufacture of restructured products. One of the first businesses to use in vitro meat will be fast food restaurants. In addition, the use of this technology will reduce the amount of waste, CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and resolve the ethical issues that arise during the slaughter of animals.”

Indeed, the advantages of artificial meat over natural are obvious:

1. Security.

The meat from the test tube will be absolutely clean. This almost completely eliminates the risk of human infection with bird and swine flu, rabies, salmonella. In meat, it will be possible to regulate fat content, which will reduce the number of heart diseases.

2. Economy.

For the production of 1 kg of poultry, pork and beef, 2, 4 and 7 kg of grain are needed, respectively. Not to mention the time spent raising livestock. It is obvious that in this case we are not talking about any savings and profitability.

Under laboratory conditions, meat can be grown as much as is needed for consumption, and not a gram more. This will save natural resources and feed necessary for raising animals and birds.

Hanna L. Tuomisto and M. Jost Teixeira de Mattos, scientists from the Universities of Oxford and Amsterdam, calculated in 2011 that in the future, the technology of growing meat "in vitro" will reduce energy consumption per unit of production by 35-60% and reduce land area, necessary for production, by 98%.

3. Ecology.

Many criticize the overall cost of traditional farming methods used to raise farm animals. If you look at the resource intensity of everything that is needed to create a hamburger, then this is tantamount to the environmental consequences of a train crash.

Traditional animal husbandry strongly influences the rate of global warming. A 2011 study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology shows that full-scale farmed meat production could significantly reduce water, arable land and energy costs, methane and other greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional livestock rearing and slaughter. Overall, according to Mark Post, synthetic meat can reduce environmental impact by up to 60%.

At the same time, in the short term, environmental arguments will only gain strength - with the growth of the middle class in China and other countries, the demand for meat increases.

4. Humanity.

Animal welfare groups, including PETA, have enthusiastically supported the idea of creating meat in a lab, as its production eliminates the exploitation and killing of livestock and poultry.

“Instead of killing millions and billions of animals like we do now, we could just clone a few cells to make hamburgers or chops,” says Ingrid Newkirk, president and co-founder of PETA.

5. Commercial benefit.

Artificial meat will have advantages over conventional meat, including cost. Like any other technology, in the industrial production stage, the cost price should eventually decrease to a commercially viable one. If the process is built efficiently, there is no reason not to reduce the cost of the product - this can be done with the right materials, processing and automation.

True, so far the process of growing one hamburger from cow stem cells costs hundreds of thousands of dollars or euros (according to data for 2010 - $ 1 million per 250 g), but soon everything can change. As the price of animal feed continues to rise and the unit cost of producing pork and beef proves too high, industry players will soon have to rethink how meat is produced and how efficient it is.

As a result, in just a few years, enterprises will begin to introduce technologies for artificially growing meat, and the new product will compete with the traditional version.

Commercial animal husbandry causes great harm to the environment. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it takes 2,500 liters of water to produce one hamburger, and cows are considered the main source of methane, which contributes to the greenhouse effect. Laboratory meat, even using animal cells, will significantly reduce the harmful impact on the environment. One turkey can produce enough cells to produce 20 trillion nuggets.

Hannah Tuomisto, an agroecologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, estimates that laboratory beef production will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% and land use by 99%. Carolyn Mattik of the University of Arizona, on the contrary, believes that artificial production will do more harm to the environment. According to her calculations, the creation in laboratories of chicken meat with all the necessary nutrients will require more energy than raising chickens.

sources

Most laboratory methods for growing meat use animal cells derived from blood serum. Muscles are formed from the cells in the bioreactor, which becomes the basis of the meat. However, the cost of such technology did not allow the release of artificial meat on the market and the scale of production.