Cultured meat
[6] It has been noted for potential in mitigating the environmental impact of meat production[3] and addressing issues regarding animal welfare, food security and human health.
[15] In 2013, Mark Post created a hamburger patty made from tissue grown outside of an animal; other cultured meat prototypes have gained media attention since.
[26] Data published by The Good Food Institute found that in 2021 through 2023, cultured meat and seafood companies attracted over $2.5 billion in investment worldwide.
In vitro cultivation of muscle fibers was first performed successfully in 1971 when pathologist Russell Ross cultured guinea pig aorta.
[80] Dutch startup Meatable, consisting of Krijn de Nood, Daan Luining, Ruud Out, Roger Pederson, Mark Kotter and Gordana Apic among others, reported in September 2018 that it had succeeded in growing meat using pluripotent stem cells from animal umbilical cords.
[100][101] In March 2022, cultured meat producers had reached the level of attempting to gain regulatory approval from European Union supranational institutions coming just before mass goods could be sold to consumers.
[101] Legal experts explained this as having to do with the fact that, although the EFSA's novel food procedure has been well-established since 1997 (unlike in other jurisdictions, that still have or had to develop certain regulatory standards), it is a long and complicated process in which companies can have little input once they have submitted their request, unlike cultured meat startups in the United States (who could easily communicate back and forth with the FDA to clarify any issues), and in the UK, Singapore and Israel (where governments have implemented a 'single point of contact' responsible for the overall process).
[101] In April 2024, the Dutch start-up Meatable was the first in the EU to receive regulatory approval from the EFSA for a public proof of concept tasting of cultured meat, in this case sausage, amid much international and national media attention.
[103] In November 2020, SuperMeat opened a test restaurant in Ness Ziona, Israel, right next to its pilot plant; journalists, experts and a small number of consumers could book an appointment to taste the novel food there, while looking through a glass window into the production facility on the other side.
It marked the first time that a cultured meat product passed the safety review (which took 2 years) of a food regulator, and was widely regarded as a milestone for the industry.
[113] Approval from the final agency, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was received by Upside Foods and Good Meat, both for cultivated chicken, in June 2023.
[116] Favourable characteristics of stem cells include immortality, proliferative ability, unreliance on adherence, serum independence and easy differentiation into tissue.
[120] Cass Materials in Perth, Australia, is using a dietary fibre called Nata de Coco (derived from coconuts) to create nanocellulose sponges for their BNC scaffold.
This technique has been demonstrated in a collaboration between 3D bioprinting solutions and Aleph Farms that used additive manufacturing to structure turkey cells on the International Space Station.
[135] Another proposed approach is to subject the cell lines to a magnetic field, which can stimulate the release of molecules that have regenerative, metabolic, anti-inflammatory and immunity-boosting properties, acting as an alternative to serum.
[136] A common challenge to bioreactors and scaffolds is developing system configurations that enable all cells to gain exposure to culture media while simultaneously optimizing spatial requirements.
[150] Lou Cooperhouse, CEO of BlueNalu, shared on the Red to Green Podcast that "cell-based" and "cell-cultured" were suitable terms to differentiate it from conventional meat whilst being clear about the process by which it was made.
[159] In March 2023, Italy's Meloni government approved a draft bill banning the production and commercialization of cultivated meat for human and animal consumption;[160][161][162] this move, which the government said was intended to protect food heritage,[163] was criticized, including by scientists, for being at odds with global trends of openness and legalization,[164] as misguided,[165] and for possibily worsening climate change in Italy.
[172][173] In September 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have agreed to jointly regulate cultured meat.
[203] The latest study by independent research firm CE Delft shows that—compared with conventional beef—cultured meat may cause up to 92% less greenhouse gas emissions if renewable energy is used in the production process, 93% less pollution, up to 95% less land use and 78% less water.
[205] Skeptic Margaret Mellon of the Union of Concerned Scientists speculates that the energy and fossil fuel requirements of large-scale cultured meat production may be more environmentally destructive than producing food off the land.
[209] To avoid the use of any animal products, the use of photosynthetic algae and cyanobacteria has been proposed to produce the main ingredients for the culture media, as opposed to fetal bovine or horse serum.
Alvaro proposes a virtue-oriented approach, suggesting that the determination to produce cultured meat stems from unvirtuous motives, i.e., "lack of temperance and misunderstanding of the role of food in human flourishing.
[221] Establishing a similar parallel with cultured meat, some environmental activists claim that adopting a vegetarian diet may be a way of focusing on personal actions and righteous gestures rather than systemic change.
Environmentalist Dave Riley states that "being meatless and guiltless seems seductively simple while environmental destruction rages around us", and writes that Mollison "insists that vegetarianism drives animals from the edible landscape so that their contribution to the food chain is lost".
[235] New Harvest[236]—a 501(c)(3) research institute—as well as The Good Food Institute[237] host annual conferences to convene industry leaders, scientists, investors, and potential collaborators.
Kornbluth; The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980) by Douglas Adams; Le Transperceneige (Snowpiercer) (1982) by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette; Neuromancer (1984) by William Gibson; Oryx and Crake (2003) by Margaret Atwood; Deadstock (2007) by Jeffrey Thomas; Accelerando (2005) by Charles Stross; Ware Tetralogy by Rudy Rucker; Divergent (2011) by Veronica Roth; and the Vorkosigan Saga (1986–2018) by Lois McMaster Bujold.
[citation needed] The Starship Enterprise from the TV and movie franchise Star Trek apparently provides a synthetic meat,[243] although crews from The Next Generation and later use replicators.
[citation needed] In the ABC sitcom Better Off Ted (2009–2010), the episode "Heroes" features Phil (Jonathan Slavin) and Lem (Malcolm Barrett) trying to grow cowless beef.
[245] In February 2014, a biotech startup called BiteLabs ran a campaign to generate popular support for artisanal salami made with meat cultured from celebrity tissue samples.
