First test-tube MEATBALL revealed: Startup claims lab grown meat will be on shelves within three years and says raising animals to eat will soon be ‘unthinkable’
By STACY LIBERATORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
- The firm says technique produces 90 percent less greenhouse emissions
- Begins by isolating cow and pig cells that have the ability to regenerate
- Costs $18,000 to make 1lb ground beef, compared to $4 in US grocery store
- Working on plant-based alternative to replace fetal bovine serum
Test-tube meat is getting closer to leaving the lab and being served on our plates.
Memphis Meats, which grows meat from animal cells, says it hopes to have its animal-free products on the market in three to four years – and has unveiled the first lab-grown meatball to the public.
It is one of several firms developed ‘test tube meats’ that could one day be cheaper and more environmentally friendly to produce than traditional farming.
‘This is absolutely the future of meat,’ said Memphis Meats CEO Uma Valeti.
‘We plan to do to the meat industry what the car did to the horse and buggy.
‘Cultured meat will completely replace the status quo and make raising animals to eat them simply unthinkable.’
The firm has been growing real meat in small quantities using cells from cows, pigs and chickens, he revealed.
‘We love meat. But like most Americans, we don’t love the many negative side effects of conventional meat production: environmental degradation, a slew of health risks, and food products that contain antibiotics, fecal matter, pathogens, and other contaminants,’ the firm says on its website.