Israeli scientists will feed the planet with test-tube meat at a price of $ 5 per kilogram. Bioreactors for growing steaks will be installed right in shops and restaurants. The researchers intend to feed all the suffering and assure that no animal will be harmed in this case. Where do the delicacies come from?
“We only need a few chicken cells, which can be obtained with a conventional biopsy,” explains Yakov Nakhmes, one of the authors of the project, director of the Center for Bioengineering at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. - We will place these cells in a nutrient medium where they can multiply.
Then the cellular material is loaded into a specially designed bioreactor that simulates the conditions of the body of a living being. Here the cells will "mature", form adipose and muscle tissue until they turn into a well-known piece of meat. In this case, the finished product will have exactly the same taste. Because it will be the real meat.
Scientists assure: the new technology will make a real revolution. First, with a clear conscience, vegetarians and animal advocates will be able to grill kebabs. A pork leg or rack of lamb can be obtained without killing the unfortunate animals.
Secondly, supporters of organic products will find peace and happiness: after all, today the cattle is stuffed with antibiotics and growth hormones. Bioengineers, in turn, ensure that their meat is safe. What's more, they plan to improve its nutritional profile by adding healthy proteins, omega-3 fatty acids, iron, etc.
HALF MILLION DOLLARS PER MACHINE PROTOTYPE
Do you think this is a matter of the distant future? Nothing like this! The Israelis, with their characteristic entrepreneurial spirit, did not postpone the matter indefinitely and created a startup SuperMeat to implement the project. For starters, the company plans to produce chicken liver and breast in laboratory conditions. The money is collected through donations from Internet users.
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The team estimates the cost of the entire project before the stage of tasting the finished product at $ 2.5 million. But in the first phase, researchers need to raise $ 500,000 to create a prototype bioreactor. To date, 126 thousand dollars have already been transferred to the company's accounts, so, apparently, the project has every chance of becoming a reality. Bioengineers assure that if everything goes well, in five years, test-tube meat will be available at the nearest supermarket.
However, Jacob Khames and his partners are counting not only on the help of meat-eaters. Their allies are environmental organizations and wildlife advocates.
It's not just about nutrition. Today, a huge amount of resources are used for meat production. Livestock breeders need 129-288 trillion liters of water a year. They account for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and are one of the causes of global warming.
In countries such as Brazil (one of the largest producers of beef), perhaps the main reason for the massive deforestation is the desire of farmers to increase the area of pastures. Bioengineers assure that the transition to the new technology will solve all these problems. Water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 90 percent, and the construction of meat factories will require only 1 percent of the area that is now occupied by farms and pastures.
QUESTION PRICE
“Sooner or later, mankind will have to switch to our laboratory meat production technology,” the SuperMeat project participants believe. - Now the population of the Earth is 7.4 billion people. To feed them, meat producers kill 100 billion animals every year.
By 2050, the number of people will increase by another 2.5 billion. Let's leave aside even the ethical side of the problem. But even so it is clear: the resources of the current mode of production are limited. The future belongs to the production of meat products without the use of animals.
But what will be the price of the issue? The authors of the project believe that their project will be profitable at a chicken breast price of $ 5 per kilogram, which is about 330 rubles. Bioengineering technologies are expensive, but laboratory meat producers will be able to save on transportation costs (bioreactors will be installed right in stores and restaurants).
But most importantly, producers will get rid of multibillion-dollar expenses for feed and animal care, they will not be afraid of losses from numerous epidemics. At one time, people could not believe that cars would replace horse-drawn vehicles. But horse-drawn carriages with cabs disappeared from the face of the earth in just a few decades.
