Tissue Engineering Study Says Animal Flesh Can be Grown in Labs

Information by Farmed Animal Watch no 27

An article in the latest edition Tissue Engineering discusses the feasibility of producing "cultured meat" in laboratories as an alternative to raising and

Authored by a team of international researchers, the article describes two possible methods of generating edible animal flesh based on tissue engineering. The first method is described as a "scaffold-based" technique that involves layering sheets of engineered tissue to replicate various types of processed meat products. The second, more complex method involves culturing progenitor (parent) cells on small beads in a nutrient-rich medium.

Cultured meat has been produced on a small scale by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to maintain food supplies during longer space flights. Three research teams have examined the subject closely in the past.

The current article's authors cite several potential benefits to finding an affordable way to produce in vitro meat: "With cultured meat, the ratio of saturated to polyunsaturated fatty acids could be better controlled; the incidence of foodborne disease could be significantly reduced; and resources could be used more efficiently, as biological structures required for locomotion and reproduction would not have to be grown or supported."

According to one physicist quoted separately, 21% of the carbon dioxide produced by humans is attributable to our consumption of animals. The article also notes that cultured meat may help reduce human dependency on farmed animals, providing a more humane alternative to breeding, raising, and slaughtering billions of animals for food.

The authors' "back-of-the-envelope calculations" suggest that the world's demand for animal flesh could be generated from a single cell. However, the technology faces several potential hurdles, including affordability of the process and acceptability among meat consumers.

more information:
Sunday roast straight from the lab?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10360690

Source: Farmed Animal Net

Link: Burgers from a Lab? US Study Says it's Possible
Link: Cultured meat made for the masses
Link: In-Vitro Cultured Meat Production
Link: Laboratory-cultured meat: Home, home on the strange?
Link: Paper Says Edible Meat Can be Grown in a Lab on Industrial Scale


Other EVANA-articles about this topic:
In vitro meat (en)
Es wird entwickelt: 'Richtiges' Kunstfleisch (de)
'Destination enfer' - campagne contre le transport d'animaux destinés à la vivisection (fr)
Zuviel Käse, Fisch oder Fleisch kann Nierensteine verursachen (de)
Congo: World's largest population of hippos soon to be wiped out (en)
Le steak in vitro : une aubaine pour les végétariens ? (fr)
MADAGASCAR IL FILM, LO ZOO E' BELLO E FA BENE AGLI ANIMALI. (it)
Ohne Schlachtung: Das 'andere' Fleisch aus dem Labor (de)
When meat is not murder (en)
¿Carne hecha en laboratorios? (es)
Madagascar: Hallan nuevas especies de lémures (es)
'Richtiges' Fleisch ohne Tierleid (de)
¿Carne comestible creada en laboratorio? (es)
Fleisch aus dem Labor (de)
Adieu veaux, vaches, cochons, couvées... (fr)
Artificial Meat Could Be Grown on a Large Scale (en)
Will the future bring cultured meat? (en)
Madagascar: Illegal logging gets out of control (en)
USA: Even after the second BSE case: 'Be patriotic: Barbecue some meat, July 4th' (en)
Gemuese fuer eine bessere Figur (de)
France: Hippopotame en danger (fr)
Madagascar: Deux nouveaux lémuriens: (fr)
Gicht wird nur durch tierische Purine gefördert (de)