Burgers Grown In A Lab Dish Will Be On Sale Within Five Years
In the near future, burgers which have only ‘lived’ in a petri dish as a mass of cells might replace ones made from real meat.
A company has ‘grown’ meatballs in a laboratory using stem cells from animals - and claims ‘synthiburgers’ could be on sale within five years.
Memphis Meats says that the new lab-grown meat will save animals’ lives - and uses 90% less water and land to produce.
Co-founder Uma Valeti says, ‘I have not walked out of a room after showing our science without having an incredibly supportive, jaw-dropping response.’
More than one trillion cells can be grown from one cell taken from a cow – enough for ten tonnes of meat.
Several other companies are also racing to produce lab-grown meat.
Dr Mark Post – who created a ‘Frankenburger’ which cost £250,000 in 2013 – has now attracted 10 million Euros (£7m) in investment and hopes to develop a factory which can mass produce ‘cultured beef’.
One of the problems Post’s project faces is that no one knows precisely what makes beef taste good.
‘Fat is important – and I think iron adds to the taste,’ he said in 2013. His first burger was made entirely from animal protein – and had a ‘cake-like’ texture.
