Would You Eat Stem Cells? Scientists Culture Eco-Friendly Meat in a Lab

Would you consider eating meat made of stem cells? Scientists are now looking at the possibility of culturing meat from these cells, which could potentially result in a more ethical and greener source for meat.

There's a rising demand for meat around the world. This demand, unfortunately, is unsustainable in terms of environmental pollution and energy consumption. It also helps contribute to global warming since raising livestock creates far more in terms of greenhouse gases than does raising crops.

Knowing this, the researchers examined the possibility of cultivating animal cells-mostly insect cells. Other scientists have actually used donor frog cells to create steaks and have even created lab-grown hamburgers.

"We believe that cultured meat is part of the future," said Cor van der Weele, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Other parts of the future are partly substituting meat with vegetarian products, keeping fewer animals in better circumstances, perhaps eating insects, etc. This discussion is certainly part of the future in that it is part of the search for a 'protein transition.' It is highly effective in stimulating a growing awareness and discussion of the problems of meat production and consumption."

In this case, the researchers outlined a potential meat manufacturing process. The idea is to first start with a vial of cells taken from a cell bank and end up with a pressed cake of minced meat. That said, there are challenges when it comes to maintaining a continuous stem cell line; "normal" meat would cost a lot less, for example. That said, cultured meat still holds great promise.

"Cultured meat has great moral promise," write the researchers in a news release. "Worries about its unnaturalness might be met through small-scale production methods that allow close contact with cell-donor animals, thereby reversing feelings of alienation. From a technological perspective, 'village-scale' production is also a promising option."

The findings are published in the journal Trends in Biotechnology.