So far, researchers have been able to get only a small amount of meat in laboratories, and even then only in the form of minced meat, more suitable for filling pies or frying hamburger patties, but preparing a whole steak has proved to be a difficult task.
Israeli food company Aleph Farms has announced that it has grown from natural cow cells a three-dimensional steak structure that completely mimics the muscle, connective and adipose tissue of real beef.
The ultimate goal of the company is to produce "kill-free steaks" that do not require huge amounts of water, feed and antibiotics for cattle.
“Making a patty or sausage from out of animal cages is difficult enough, now imagine how difficult it is to create a whole meat steak,” said Didier Toubia, co-founder and CEO of Aleph Farms.
“We made a dream come true by growing steak in a controlled environment. The raw materials are still relatively expensive, but the technology we have developed marks a real breakthrough in the production of artificial caged meat.”
As a "seed" for growing meat, as a rule, they take a few cells extracted from live animals, which are then forced to grow and divide in laboratory conditions.
One of the obstacles to creating tenderloin meat is organizing the interaction of different types of cells with each other so that they can build a complete tissue structure.
In order to build muscle fibers, connective tissue and store fat, the research team needed to find the necessary nutrients and determine their optimal ratios to mimic the natural growth process.
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The result is a thin slice of steak that can be cooked in about one minute.
Chef Amir Ilan of the Paris Texas restaurant in Ramat Gan, Israel, who cooked the world's first laboratory steak dish, said: "This product has the great look and natural texture of real meat."
“It was a great experience for me - eating meat that looks and tastes like beef, knowing that it was grown without antibiotics, and without causing any harm to animals or the environment.”
"Plus, meat you can enjoy is good for your health and for the health of the planet as a whole."
Serg Kite.