Scientists are working on a variety of cell culture procedures. The cutting edge of in vitro meat engineering is the attempt to get cells to grow as if they were inside a living animal. Meat like steak is a complex combination of muscle, fat and other connective tissue. Reproducing the complexity of muscle is proving difficult.
"An actual whole muscle organ is not technically impossible," said Bob Dennis, a biomedical engineer at both North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina, who attended the conference. "But of all the tissue engineering applications it is by far the most difficult one."
While scientists are struggling to recreate filet mignon, they anticipate less trouble growing hamburger.
"The general consensus is that minced meat or ground meat products — sausage, chicken nuggets, hamburgers — those are within technical reach," Matheny said. "We have the technology to make those things at scale with existing technology."
It might lead to the Great British Sausage, chicken nuggets and hamburgers being made out of somthing that is readily identifiable as actual meat.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Kay Tie // Apr 21, 2008 at 9:15 am
I wonder what the carbon footprint of this technique is?
2 Kit // Apr 21, 2008 at 9:29 am
One thing is for sure the environmentalists will not like it.
3 sanbikinoraion // Apr 21, 2008 at 10:37 am
Don’t know about environmentalists, but as a reluctant veggie I think it would be awesome.
Of course, you still wouldn’t really know what was in it…
4 Roger Thornhill // Apr 21, 2008 at 11:01 am
I suspect the pr0n industry will have an interest in producing authentic looking meat.
5 gene berman // Apr 21, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Yes, Roger–but there are late-night TV pharma advertisers who claim they’re already doing it.
6 RobtE // Apr 21, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Didn’t Churchill predict this years ago? Growing chickens in beakers or some such?
7 David Gillies // Apr 21, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Kit, the Greens will go spastic because they’re like the New Age version of the self-loathing Catholics who thought that no penance was complete without mortification of the flesh. If there’s no sacrifice to be made, then in their eyes it’s an inauthentic gesture. This is why you should make sure to nut every fluorescent Greenie you should happen upon.
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