Process: What is Cultured Beef?
Cultured Beef is created by painlessly harvesting muscle cells from a living cow. Scientists
then feed and nurture the cells so they multiply to create muscle tissue, which is the main
component of the meat we eat. It is biologically exactly the same as the meat tissue that
comes from a cow.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that the demand
for meat is going to increase by more than two-thirds in the next 40 years and current
production methods are not sustainable. In the near future both meat and other staple foods
are likely to become expensive luxury items, thanks to the increased demand on crops for
meat production, unless we find a sustainable alternative.
Livestock contributes to global warming through unchecked releases of methane, a
greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The increase in demand will
significantly increase levels of methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide and cause loss of
biodiversity.
Cultured Beef is likely a more sustainable option that will change the way we eat and think
about food forever.
How Cultured Beef is made
Cultured Beef is created by painlessly harvesting muscle cells from a living cow. Scientists
then feed and nurture the cells so they multiply to create muscle tissue, which is the main
component of the meat we eat. It is biologically exactly the same as the meat tissue that
comes from a cow.
The cells grow into strands. 20,000 of these small strands of meat are then combined to create
one normal sized hamburger.
The benefits
Although Mark Post’s burger is only intended as a proof of concept and it will be a while before
Cultured Beef appears on supermarket shelves research already points to its potential.
Research carried out at the University of Oxford suggests that producing Cultured Beef could
use as much as 99% less space than what is needed for current livestock farming methods.
Research also points to greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts for
Cultured Beef being substantially lower than beef from modern farming.