Just last year, the world's first synthetic burger was created in a lab in London. The idea was to recreate meat because of the rising demand for it. According to the article, meat demand will double by 2053, not to mention the likely increase in population over the years. After six years of research, the "frankenburger" was created in just three months. They extracted stem cells from cows and used them to grow 20,000 strands of muscle. They then mashed these protein strands to produce the edible result.
Now the previous fake burger creation looked white in color and hard very little taste. However after further testing they were able to construct a burger patty that is similar to the real thing. After two reliable people tasted the burger they believed the consistency was very much like the real thing, however the taste was not there. The burger was lacking the "fatty" flavor. Therefore they will keep on testing and altering the lab burger and they expect it to be in the market in less than 20 years. Although it has costed them 325,000 once it is selling, it will be worth it.
I would totally eat it! You know, for science. In all seriousness however, I wonder if fast food corporations will begin using this as an alternative to their meats. I imagine in the future artificial meat will be very accessible.
ReplyDeleteWhile it certainly doesn't sound or even look too appetizing right now, I think this is a crucial field of research for the future. It's important to figure out how to deal with the projected population growth and finite food sources now rather than later, and to be able to 'create' meat - a source of great sustenance - would be very effective.
ReplyDeleteOther than the fact that it tastes different from real hamburgers, are there any more differences?
ReplyDeleteWell, besides the fact that it taste different, it also just isn't made out of real meat. Honestly I am still a bit skeptical about a fake patty just because we are ingesting chemicals instead of something that is relatively natural (meat).
DeleteHi Arianna, thank you for sharing. I want to point out the importance of this issue. Reducing beef consumption would not only provide alternate food sources, but also a reduction in greenhouses gases. Cattle and other livestock contribute to an immense portion of greenhouses gases-specifically, methane (CH4). Cattle, when farmed at such an outstanding quantity, has the ability to change the climate. Methane, when released into the atmosphere is better than carbon dioxide at insulating heat. This means methane is worse for the environment than carbon dioxide is. Hopefully, this technology would aid in the reduction of cattle numbers- for the sake of humanity's future.
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