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Gene research
Stem cell beef could boost market choice
Will future generations be appalled to learn that as late as the 21st Century humans killed animals for meat or will tomorrow’s
consumers grow their own meat in an appliance on the kitchen bench? This article examines stem cell technology and its
possible applications to the animal production industries.
by
Lisa Palu,
CSIRO LIVESTOCK INDUSTRIES
echnology now exists to grow meat in a
laboratory and theoretically the world’s
annual meat supply could be grown from a
single cell.
During 2002, NASA-funded United States’
scientists were the first to grow meat
successfully in a laboratory and the Dutch
Government recently announced a $7 million
project, co-sponsored by the meat processing
industry, to produce edible meat in an
industrial setting. Dutch scientists hold
a patent for a method to produce meat in
the laboratory.
Test-tube hamburgers
The meat-growing technology uses special
cells that live at the edges of muscle fibres and
help repair damaged muscles. But these
cells will not survive unless they are attached
to something.
For large-scale meat production, scientists
envisage using a collagen meshwork carrier
for the cells, which then would be placed in a
bioreactor, soaked in a culture medium and
subjected to several environmental cues.
The cells would proliferate and fuse
into a tissue that could be harvested and
CSIRO
T
Stem cell technology to produce meat could potentially replace the need for livestock. But CSIRO
researchers believe the new technology will be best used to gain a detailed understanding of how animals
produce meat so producers can better manage animal production systems.
these different cells types would need to be
organised into a three-dimensional structure,
subjected to growth hormones at the
appropriate time and stretched in some way
to replicate animal movement. In other
words, stem cell steak will not be on the menu
any time soon.
turned into sausages or hamburger patties.
While this method appears technically
feasible, significant challenges remain before
it can be produced economically.
Skeletal muscle consists of several cell
types and to replicate the taste and texture of
unprocessed meat, such as a piece of steak,
Understanding animals
At a glance
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• Technology now exists to allow
meat production in a laboratory
rather than using livestock.
• But CSIRO researchers believe
the stem cell technology can be
better used to gain a clearer
understanding of how animals
produce meat.
• CSIRO researchers are seeking
markers for stem cells to identify
easily those animals carrying
significant numbers of stem cells.
• Such animals potentially could be
managed to produce better quality
meat products.
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CSIRO
This
While CSIRO is active in stem cell
research, it believes the real future for this
science lies in understanding how stem cells
work in animals, rather than attempting to
CSIRO scientist Greg Harper (on secondment to
Meat and Livestock Australia) believes stem cell
technology could help the animal industries to
produce meat for niche markets.
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March 2006
Douglas McFarland, South Dakota State University
Gene research
Livestock
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While the technology is now available to grow meat in a test tube from single stem cells, laboratory cultured
meat is still a long way off. The microscopic image pictured shows turkey muscle cells grown in culture.
replicate what animals do. While past
research has been carried out on embryonic
stem cells, scientists have recently discovered
that stem cells also can be obtained from
adult animals and from any tissue source,
particularly blood, bone marrow and
even fat.
Adult stem cells have nearly the same
activity level of embryonic stem cells.
But at the moment, if scientists have a
cell sitting under a microscope, the only
way they can tell if it is a stem cell is to carry
out a functional assay, which involves
dividing the cell a couple of times to see what
it becomes.
While this enables scientists to determine
whether the cell is a stem cell, it would be far
more efficient if scientists could identify stem
cells more easily.
To address this problem, CSIRO research is
now focused on developing stem cell
markers, which can be genes, proteins or
even structural characteristics of the cells.
These markers would enable scientists to
identify stem cells quickly and efficiently.
Much of the early stem cell work was
researched using mice and humans but
CSIRO researchers now aim to take the stem
cell marker technology and apply it to cattle
and sheep.
Market opportunities
According to Greg Harper, formerly
breed engineering leader with CSIRO’s Food
Futures Flagship and presently on secondment
to Meat and Livestock Australia, stem cell
technology used in animals has significant
potential to assist Australian livestock
producers to remain globally competitive.
For example, there are good opportunities
in the Japanese beef market, which pays a
premium for marbled beef.
Marbling is a result of stem cell activity but
in young cattle destined for Japan, scientists
cannot yet predict which animals are going
to marble.
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March 2006
Dr Harper believes that if the number of
stem cells in muscle tissue could be counted,
then scientists could better predict which
young animals would be likely to develop
marbled meat.
For example, if an animal was found to
have a lot of stem cells, it is likely its meat
would marble, providing it also had the
right genetics.
Producers could then potentially time
nutritional supplementation with a view to
influencing the number of stem cells that
develop later in life.
Stem cells and consumer concern
Dr Harper believes that within five years
scientists will have developed a method of
counting stem cells in tissues.
Throughout this process, several methods
of influencing the number of stem cells will
have been identified. But the community will
then need to decide whether it is appropriate
to apply this technology to food production.
According to Dr Harper, part of the market
wants its food ‘good but cheap’ and these
people are not particularly concerned by how
this is achieved, as long as it is carried out
safely and animal welfare issues are addressed.
But other consumers are concerned
about the ethical dimensions of stem cell
technology and will not support any form of
food manipulation.
Dr Harper believes CSIRO’s stem cell work
always will be driven by the needs of industry
and ultimately the Australian community.
To this end, the demand for cultured meat
will be trivial in the foreseeable future
compared with the global demand for carcass
meat. But as CSIRO develops its knowledge
about animal stem cells, it could apply the
technology to meet the needs of consumers
and the Australian agrifood industry.
For more information contact
Lisa Palu on [email protected],
phone (07) 3214 2960 or fax
(07) 3214 2900.
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