Meat can be produced without animals
If we are to produce sustainable and healthy food for the global population of nine billion people that is projected in 2050, then we must think along completely new lines.
Imagine this: With a clear conscience you sink your teeth into a juicy and tasty hamburger. No animal has been slaughtered to deliver the meat, no new forest felled to make way for animal feed, no bovine methane burps have affected the climate and no slurry has been released into the environment. The hamburger also has a satisfyingly low fat content and the fat consists only of fatty acids that are good for you.
Does this sound like something from Utopia’s kitchen? It does not need to be the case, according to senior scientist Niels Oksbjerg from the Department of Food Science at Aarhus University. He and his colleagues have the expertise to create muscle (meat) cells in the laboratory and are itching to develop the technique to make it possible to produce meat with the ultimate sustainability for the world’s growing population.
- If you have one embryonic stem cell from, for example, a calf, then you can produce an infinite number of new cells. Theoretically, you can produce meat for the whole world from one stem cell, says Niels Oksbjerg.
From research to red meat
Theory is one thing while practice is another. Before farming moves into the laboratory a lot of research and development must be carried out – but the senior scientist is not starting from scratch.
- For years we have grown muscle cells in the laboratory to be used as a model for muscle in various studies so we know that it is possible to get them to grow. One of the challenges lies in getting the cells to grow in more than one cell layer so we can produce a three-dimensional mass, says Niels Oksbjerg.
- If the cells grow in one layer, then we need approximately one square metre to produce 2.5 g of meat. We need to develop edible scaffolds that the muscle cells can grow on, says Niels Oksbjerg.
Stem cells for lab meat can come from either farm animal embryos (embryonic stem cells) or from farm animals after birth (adult muscle stem cells). Until now, the scientists have worked with cells from pigs, calves and chicks. The cells divide, find each other and form muscle fibres.
Designed meat
Embryonic stem cells can become all types of cells whereas the adult stem cells in muscle fibres can become muscle, fat, bone or connective tissue, depending on which conditions they are offered. It is also possible to grow muscle cells in combination with fat cells. In this way scientists can design meat so it has a taste and nutritional content that satisfies consumer demands.
To begin with, the laboratory product will not be able to replace traditional meat but can act as a healthy and sustainable supplement in pizza fillings, meatballs and sausages.
- It is not the ultimate solution to the world’s food problems but all efforts that contribute to the food supply for the nine billion people that are expected to live on this earth in 2050 are welcome, says Niels Oksbjerg.
His colleague at Aarhus University, research professor Jørgen E. Olesen from the Department of Agroecolgy and Environment, agrees.
- There are definitely promising perspectives in a meat production system that does not involve animals. The perspectives are in regard to animal welfare, climate and the environment. With regard to climate, several more things must be developed, though. Even stem cell production requires a supply of carbohydrates, proteins and minerals. They have to come from somewhere. There will also be waste materials that need to be managed. So, even with meat production based on stem cells there will be environmental and climate challenges that must be dealt with, says Jørgen E. Olesen.
