The UK Telegraph is reporting on a group in the Netherlands who have created “frankenpork” in the lab. Researchers currently have what is described as “soggy pork” and are now investigating ways to improve the muscle tissue in the hope that people will one day want to eat it. They have done so because of the concern that consumption of meat and dairy products are set to double by 2050, which would spell disaster for methane production and greenhouse gas build-up. Not to mention the vast amount of resources that go into animal growth and production, much of which is ultimately wasted.
For the most part, vegetarian groups welcomed the news, saying there was “no ethical objection” if meat was not a piece of a dead animal. However the Vegetarian Society said “The big question is how could you guarantee you were eating artificial flesh rather than flesh from an animal that had been slaughtered.”
That is not really an issue just yet. Mark Post, professor of physiology at Eindhoven University, said “What we have at the moment is rather like wasted muscle tissue. We need to find ways of improving it by training it and stretching it, but we will get there.”
The scientists extracted cells from the muscle of a live pig and then put them in a broth of other animal products. The cells then multiplied and created muscle tissue. They believe that it can be turned into something like steak if they can find a way to artificially “exercise” the muscle.
The pork project closely follows the creation of artificial fish fillets from goldfish muscle cells.