Artificial meat is the future of agriculture for both mankind and animal. However, is the world ready for it? (Image via Stuff.co.nz)

3D meat from space, coming to your plate

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Business & Industry
Agriculture& Livestock
Oct 15, 2019
2134
Science fiction movies have it that a slice of meat can be cultivated from a single cell. While it was deemed impossible back then, a Russian cosmonaut had actually done it in the International Space Station (ISS). Being tested since September, the dream came true for the world to create beef, lamb, or fish without having to slaughter for one by 3D printing it.

Aleph Farms, an Israeli start-up company that provided the cells for the test, stated that the 3D-printed meat was a breakthrough for a long term journey. The head of Aleph Farms, Didier Toubia, added that now the space exploration can be done more thoroughly without having to worry about food.

While for a long term goal, artificial meat can be used to satisfy the hunger of the cosmonauts while exploring Mars, Aleph Farms thought about the selling opportunity. The Israeli start-up was talking about the possibility to bring it back on Earth and sell it at supermarkets near you.

Didier asserted that it would not destroy any traditional farming, but instead, it would modify traditional farming to a whole new level.

While we are talking about artificial meat, this one is not the first. The first cell-based meat was created in 2013 by a Dutch scientist, Mark Post, who created a beef burger from a cow stem cell.

However, obstacles are waiting for artificial meat. First and foremost, the financial obstacle. While the meat looks exactly like ordinary meat, the production cost is way different. Bringing the laboratory-grown meat on a nationwide scale means more investment. In 2018, only US$78 billion was raised for the development of artificial meat.

The other obstacle is the regulation. The United States (U.S) government had already prepared regulations for artificial meat according to the deeper oversight by the Department of Agriculture and Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). However, these regulations are not finalized yet.

Some people support the artificial meat because it means less animal slaughtering. While animals can live, energy efficiency, however, is questioned.

Source: https://bit.ly/2VJYtRm

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