We may be gobbling turkey meat made in bioreactors and not in the farm as early as 2030.
Paul Mozdiak is thankful this Thanksgiving that people are now finally paying attention to his idea. He is a professor of poultry science at North Carolina State University. He is also an expert in growing avian muscle cells in a lab flask, which landed him in the cutting edge of “cellular agriculture”, the idea that animal protein could be manufactured in bioreactors rather than by animals.
The technology, also known as in vitro meat cultivation, may sound strange. But it has been drawing a following of environmentalists, animal-rights activists, and investors who think meat can be made by biotech companies rather than on farms.
“Years from now, when people are [in] the grocery store trying to decide if they want to buy traditional versus cultivated meat, I am 100 percent sure that cultured meat is going to be just as cheap, if not cheaper,” says Mozdziak.
[...]
Lab-grown meat is still far from being economical. In Mozdziak’s lab, his team grows cells as a thin layer inside plastic flasks. If the cells become too thick, nutrients can’t get in. Growing a turkey-size amount of white meat this way would require about 11,340 flasks and about $34,000 worth of growth serum.
More details about this over at Technology Review.
What are your thoughts about this one?
(Image Credit: mohamed_hassan/ Pixabay)