But, can you 'Que it???


http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/scitech/...ArticleID=1098

www.newsdesk.umd.edu
For Immediate Release
July 6, 2005
Contacts: Ellen Ternes, 301 405 4627 or

Paper Says Edible Meat Can be Grown in a Lab on Industrial Scale

Experiments for NASA space missions have shown that small amounts of
edible meat can be created in a lab. But the technology that could
grow chicken nuggets without the chicken, on a large scale, may not be
just a science fiction fantasy.

In a paper in the June 29 issue of Tissue Engineering, a team of
scientists, including University of Maryland doctoral student Jason
Matheny, propose two new techniques of tissue engineering that may one
day lead to affordable production of in vitro - lab grown -- meat for
human consumption. It is the first peer-reviewed discussion of the
prospects for industrial production of cultured meat.

"There would be a lot of benefits from cultured meat," says Matheny,
who studies agricultural economics and public health. "For one thing,
you could control the nutrients. For example, most meats are high in
the fatty acid Omega 6, which can cause high cholesterol and other
health problems. With in vitro meat, you could replace that with Omega
3, which is a healthy fat.

"Cultured meat could also reduce the pollution that results from
raising livestock, and you wouldn't need the drugs that are used on
animals raised for meat."

Prime Without the Rib

The idea of culturing meat is to create an edible product that tastes
like cuts of beef, poultry, pork, lamb or fish and has the nutrients
and texture of meat.

Scientists know that a single muscle cell from a cow or chicken can be
isolated and divided into thousands of new muscle cells. Experiments
with fish tissue have created small amounts of in vitro meat in NASA
experiments researching potential food products for long-term space
travel, where storage is a problem.

"But that was a single experiment and was geared toward a special
situation - space travel," says Matheny. "We need a different approach
for large scale production."

Matheny's team developed ideas for two techniques that have potential
for large scale meat production. One is to grow the cells in large
flat sheets on thin membranes. The sheets of meat would be grown and
stretched, then removed from the membranes and stacked on top of one
another to increase thickness.

The other method would be to grow the muscle cells on small
three-dimensional beads that stretch with small changes in
temperature. The mature cells could then be harvested and turned into
a processed meat, like nuggets or hamburgers.

Treadmill Meat

To grow meat on a large scale, cells from several different kinds of
tissue, including muscle and fat, would be needed to give the meat the
texture to appeal to the human palate.

"The challenge is getting the texture right," says Matheny. "We have
to figure out how to 'exercise' the muscle cells. For the right
texture, you have to stretch the tissue, like a live animal would."

Where's the Beef?

And, the authors agree, it might take work to convince consumers to
eat cultured muscle meat, a product not yet associated with being
produced artificially.

"On the other hand, cultured meat could appeal to people concerned
about food safety, the environment, and animal welfare, and people who
want to tailor food to their individual tastes," says Matheny. The
paper even suggests that meat makers may one day sit next to bread
makers on the kitchen counter.

"The benefits could be enormous," Matheny says. "The demand for meat
is increasing world wide -- China 's meat demand is doubling every ten
years. Poultry consumption in India has doubled in the last five
years.

"With a single cell, you could theoretically produce the world's
annual meat supply. And you could do it in a way that's better for the
environment and human health. In the long term, this is a very
feasible idea."

Matheny saw so many advantages in the idea that he joined several
other scientists in starting a nonprofit, New Harvest, to advance the
technology. One of these scientists, Henk Haagsman, Professor of Meat
Science at Utrecht University, received a grant from the Dutch
government to produce cultured meat, as part of a national initiative
to reduce the environmental impact of food production.

Other authors of the paper are Pieter Edelman of Wageningen University
, Netherlands ; Douglas McFarland, South Dakota State University ; and
Vladimir Mironov, Medical University of South Carolina.

#

To request a copy of the paper contact contact Larry Bernstein, Tissue
Engineering,

For more information on cultured meat, see the New Harvest website,
http://www.new-harvest.org .




-Chef Juke
"EVERYbody Eats When They Come To MY House!"
www.chefjuke.com

"Chef Juke" > wrote in message
...
> But, can you 'Que it???
>
>
> http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/scitech/...ArticleID=1098
>
> www.newsdesk.umd.edu
> For Immediate Release
> July 6, 2005
> Contacts: Ellen Ternes, 301 405 4627 or
>
> Paper Says Edible Meat Can be Grown in a Lab on Industrial Scale

It has possibilities. I can see it now, instead of illegal drug labs, there
will be illegal meat labs, refrigerated bedrooms, foil covered windows,
stacks of cookie sheets, gro-lamps and fridges full of prime rib cells : )

The Evil Big Meat Industry isn't going to like this, and neither will Evil
Big Animal Rights Fanatics, they will have to find a new crusade.<bfg>