Scientists unveil first lab-grown burger
5 Aug 2013
Dutch food scientists cooked and ate the first ever lab-grown burger on Monday afternoon.
The event was broadcast from 1pm and can be seen here via the Cultured Beef video link.
Professor Mark Post of Maastricht University, the academic behind the alternative meat production technique, cooked and ate the first ever Cultured Beef burger on Monday afternoon.
The burger represents the possibility to make Cultured Beef commercially available by 2020.
Post aims to pave the way for food production that does not require the use of livestock for meat. His hope is that this would reduce the effect of meat consumption on the environment, as methane gas from cows is considered a significant contributor to climate change.
The burger is made from the muscle cells of a cow, which are then cultured in a laboratory by scientists who place them in a nutrient solution to create muscle tissue. The tissue is grown by placing the cells in a ring around a hub of gel.
The muscle cells grow into small strands of meat. 20,000 such strands are needed to make one 140g burger – approximately 5oz.
“What we are going to attempt is important because I hope it will show Cultured Beef has the answers to major problems that the world faces,” said Professor Mark Post.
Post said he hoped today’s burger tasting event could mark the first step towards making Cultured Beef commercially available by 2020.
