In Star Trek: The Animated Series (1974), various types of realistic-looking food could be requested, as in the episode entitled "The Practical Joker".
The subsequent prequel series, Star Trek: Enterprise, set in the 22nd century, featured a "protein resequencer" that could only replicate certain foods, so an actual chef served on board who used a hydroponic greenhouse where fruits and vegetables were grown.
However, other replicators, such as the ones used by the aliens in the TNG episode "Allegiance", could create living things, including the brain's many trillions of dendritic connections where memory is stored.
On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, it was established that as long as there is an energy source to power life support, replication is used to provide breathable air on ships and starbases (and to disassemble the carbon dioxide exhaled by the crew), thus providing a seemingly endless supply of oxygen and eliminating the need to carry air tanks.
[6] By virtually eliminating material scarcity, replicator technology plays an important role in the moneyless human economy within the Star Trek universe.
When the USS Voyager was pulled to the Delta Quadrant, it became clear that replicator technology was unknown to some of the indigenous peoples of that region.
In 2014, researchers at Nestlé were reported as working on technology comparable to the replicator, with the goal of providing food tailored to an individual's nutritional requirements.
[8] Imperial College London physicists have discovered how to create matter from light — a feat thought impossible when the idea was first hypothesized in the 1930s.
[9] BeeHex, an Ohio startup company, received a grant in 2013 from NASA intended for developing long-spaceflight food 3D printing technology.
[10] Cemvita Factory Inc., a biotech startup based in Houston, TX, is also developing a photobioreactor that converts carbon dioxide that's captured from air along with hydrogen from hydrolyzing water to nutrients and pharmaceutics.