Mark Post makes beef grown in lab

Mark Post makes beef grown in lab

1. This scientist is recognized for developing a hamburger from stem cells.

   • This could be the last generation to eat meat from slaughtered animals in slaughterhouses
     • The person responsible for this to become this is the Dutch doctor Mark Post, creator of the first beef grown in the laboratory. In 2013, Post presented the prototype of his first hamburger made with this meat. The piece was cooked live by a renowned chef and subject to the evaluation of two food critics who gave him a positive rating, although they stressed that it was not so juicy.
       • Where does this interest in producing meat come from in a laboratory?
         • According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (in English, FAO), in 2050 meat consumption worldwide will increase by 50%, because we are going to be 10 billion of inhabitants on the planet and, also, who now can not eat meat PO Rque can't afford it, they'll start doing it, when their purchasing level increases. This will occur mainly in China, India, and Africa. All of this means that we must produce more meat, but there is no way to achieve it with conventional livestock: we don't have enough land, water and energy to do it.
         • The second reason is because it is a problematic product, whose production results in a high emission of greenhouse gases. According to FAO and who, between 16 and 20% of these gases come from livestock.
         • And the third is the growing concern about animal welfare, which will eventually lead to a plant-based diet if something else is not done.
       • How does the process work to prepare this laboratory meat? It's very simple: every muscle in each animal has stem cells, which are dedicated to regenerating tissues. When a muscle gets hurt, they come, multiply, and begin to form muscle tissue. These cells can do this both inside and outside the body. What we do is we take small pieces of muscle from a cow, we take out the stem cells, we let them proliferate to very large numbers, trillions of cells, with which we can make thousands of kilos of meat (with the appearance of ground beef). We can add fat tissue to this meat and that's how you get a hamburger. of a single tissue sample, which can be half a gram, we can get about 80000 burgers.
         • What is missing from the cultivated meat to be equal to the one obtained from the traditional livestock? For the hamburger is fine, I think. Eventually, we will want to make steaks with the right thickness and with the fat tissue, muscle and all the right structure. That'll take a couple of years. Another thing that I think will suffer is the cultural value of meat, which we appreciate not only as a meal, but as an item that is associated with power, masculinity, energy, fire... Once you start making it another way, you will lose some of those associated ideas, no doubt.
       • Are there additional nutritional benefits for those who consume this meat? Do you have the same amount of protein, for example? The amount of protein is the same as that obtained from natural meat and is of very high quality, with all the necessary amino acids. Can we make this a healthy product? Of course we can make it as healthy as beef, if there are concerns about this. We could even make it healthier by removing some of the saturated fatty acids that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. There are great opportunities to make it better without affecting the taste.
       • Will this meat be the solution for vegans? Probably not. There is not much research in that field, but I have spoken to many vegans and my impression is that only a minority of them would eat this meat, I would say about 20%. The rest would remain vegan for many reasons, one of which is that the technology we use still uses animals for consumption. Many people don't like this idea, even when fewer animals have been used. Others don't eat meat simply because they don't like it, or they think it's unhealthy.
       • Can this method you developed be used to cultivate meat from other animals? Yes. In fact, other scientists are already doing it. While we are focusing on beef, others are working on chicken, fish, pork, lamb. This can be done with any animal that has stem cells in its muscles.
       • Do you think we're close to the end of the ranch? That'll take a good time, at least 30 or 40 years, but we'll potentially get there.