Cultured Beef doesn't look or sound all that appetising, does it? But this lab-grown burger could be a glimpse of the future.
Developed by a team of scientists in the Netherlands, the five-ounce "Cultured Beef" burger is made from 20,000 muscle strands grown in professor Mark Post's laboratory. This week, it was cooked by chef Richard McGeown in preparation for tasting by food writer Josh Schonwald and nutritional researcher Hanni Rützler. The verdict? It's not unpleasant, but it needs ketchup.
The burger is the result of years of research and cost a staggering £220,000 to create. The revolutionary work has attracted funding from Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and could become a vital alternative to unsustainable livestock levels as global demand for meat is expected to increase by more than two-thirds in the next 40 years.
Dr. Post's lab-grown solution is described as "a more sustainable option that will change the way we eat and think about food forever," but the science alone may not be enough to overcome the largest hurdle; how do you convince people that it's safe to eat meat that came not from a farm, but from a Petri dish?
And perception clearly matters. Dr. Post hopes to grow fat cells in a similar way to give his burgers a juicier texture, and the lack of iron-rich blood in the muscle strands has already resulted in the first burger being imbued with beetroot juice and saffron to give it a realistic colour.
In 10 to 20 years, says Post, the production of lab-grown meat will scale to a point at which it will appear in supermarkets at a mainstream price. So let's put the question to you, our readers. Would you eat a lab-grown burger, or any other lab-grown meat for that matter? Let us know in the comments below.
