Posted on 04/10/2015 7:44:39 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Scientists in the Netherlands are one step closer to producing a viable lab-grown alternative to the conventional beef burger patty.
Last year, Professor Mark Post and his team of scientists at the Maastricht University in the Netherlands produced the first prototype of a lab-grown burger. Benefits of this new burger production method include a decrease in animal slaughter, savings in land, water, and energy use required for livestock, and a reduction in greenhouse gases.
The project has faced several hurdles, though, not the least of which was the enormous price tag of 250,000 Euros, or $273,000. That was roughly how much it cost the research team to produce just one burger.
According to Post, however, the team has since figured out a way to drastically cut down the cost of production. In an interview with Australia’s ABC News, the professor said that a new technique would drop the cost of production to $80 per kilogram of meat, meaning that one burger patty would cost around $11.40 – an impressive drop from the initial $273,000.
The reason why the price dropped so drastically is because the new technique would just use a muscle tissue from a cow. The tissue would be placed on a petri dish of fetal calf serum which allows it to multiply. A small tissue, according to Post, "can produce 10,000 kilos of meat."
While the cost has been reduced enough to make the lab-grown beef more feasible, not all issues have been overcome. For one thing, even though the technique is cost-effective, it remains too slow for mass production.
A second obstacle is the very same serum responsible for the price drop. Fetal calf serum, which allows the muscle tissue to multiply, is made from the blood of cow fetuses and collected from slaughterhouses. The reliance on this serum therefore undercuts one of the project’s main goals — to decrease animal killing. Post has said that he and his team are currently working on replacing the serum with something that would not rely on animal products.
Finally, and probably more importantly for burger consumers, is the issue of taste. Food writer Josh Schonwald and nutrition researcher Hanni Rutzler, both of whom were part of the burger’s tasting panel last year, have said that the absence of fat in the lab-grown beef takes away from the patty’s juiciness and flavor.
All in all, scientists at Maastricht University expect the project to take some time, but aren’t giving up on bringing the lab-grown meat to supermarkets everywhere. "I do think that in 20 or 30 years from now," Post said, "We will have a viable industry producing alternative beef."
I’ve heard there is a method to growing hamburgers which involves self replicating organisms. The darn things run on just grass and water. No electricity.
yucko!
(but probably still a shade better than McD?)
LOL, Didn't you get the PETA memo .... they're Sea Kittens now!
$11.40 per burger patty is NOT econmical! Idiots.
Is that some sort of new age krap?
When I saw this was happening in the Netherlands, where euthanasia is legal, the first thought that came to my mind is “Soylent green is people!”
We buy buffalo...more expensive than beef, but a heck of a lot cheaper than a “lab” burger.
My dogs would love to eat squirrel. They do get the ocassional bunny and ground hog. Way much less since I’m on to their conspiracy with the cat....
I think I’m going to hurl after reading the description. After reading that, I don’t even want regular meat.
McDonalds Cloneburgers
$44 a pound is cost-effective?
Can you imagine the protest of Fankenfood over this type stuff?
Geezes Cheeses the EU already hyperventilates over GM stuff. This is many times stranger
I used to hear the same excitement about the new and improved soy burgers. Some are palatable, after being candied up with strong spices, but soy meat remains a distant second choice for most who are given a choice of ingredients.
Actually, if they got that to work cheaply and tastily, it would be pretty cool. If we reduced the land needed for meat in this country by 50 percent, it would free up about three Texases worth of space. Shouldn’t we conservatives be happy if more resources are available?
I remember reading about this back in the 1980’s. I thought it was gross then and it is gross now. Yechhhh!
Personally, I like turkey burgers.
Well, I am not going to comment on the market value, or the ethics, but could this eventually offer a way to produce meat for long-term space exploration? It would make sense in that environment.
Many of the people commenting have obviously not been around commercial meat processing. While many cultures speak of using every part of the pig but the squeal, they have nothing on modern meat companies . Sausage-making has never been pretty, but chicken nuggets puts them all to shame. LOL
The future looks more and more depressing every day.
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