How far is the “artificial meat” from the table?

Development of "artificial meat" in the laboratory.

Vegans protest against animal slaughter.

For those who are not happy, a meal without food can be very depressing. Everyone knows that to keep healthy, you must eat less cholesterol. However, it is difficult to control his own mouth. Fortunately, scientists have made a lot of efforts to do this, and "artificial meat" is also in the lab. Perhaps in the future, despite the food shortage problem, people can still "eat and eat" and eat genuine "rest assured."

In this regard, someone clapping fast. In April this year, an animal protection organization in the United States took more money and encouraged scientists to explore and study in this area. However, the voice of questioning and opposition is also inexhaustible. "Artificial meat" has a long way to go from the laboratory to the final market.

The concept of "artificial meat" has a long history

People can not help but ask, what kind of meat is "artificial meat"? How is it made? Can it really take the place of traditional meat and take our table to meet the human demand for meat? In fact, the term "artificial meat" is not new and not terrible. The traditional "artificial meat" was once called soy protein meat and is a bean product that imitates the shape, color and taste of meat.

In the late 1930s, the American chemist Pojee was hired by car manufacturer Ford to study substitutes for car seat cover leather. In his research, he discovered that the soybean residue after oil extraction and margarine production is rich in protein and can be entwined into strands. Poyer was inspired to use this type of material to create a light and digestible "meat." However, at that time, he was limited to the research tasks he had already shouldered and he could not devote more energy to this research. Until 1953, he obtained the invention patent of "artificial meat."

To make “artificial meat,” Boyer made the soy residue into a fine powder and mixed it with a binding solution until the mixture became viscous and then sprayed with a spinner like a nylon yarn to be leached with acid and salt. Wash to solidify the wire. Mix it with flavoring agent and wrap it into strands for slicing, diced and minced. In the 1960s, man-made "salted pork" began to be sold in the U.S. market. Because of the increase in meat prices and the presence of fat and cholesterol in meat, many people have a good outlook for the sale of protein-based meat (TVP).

Stop virus infection "rest assured"

But the "artificial meat" mentioned here is different from the traditional concept. Scientists in the United States and the Netherlands are studying the use of cell culture to make meat. They first extracted the animal's "myoblast" and then placed it in the culture fluid, then poured it into the stent and placed it into the bioreactor to develop animal muscle fibers. Thus, from a single cell, thousands of new cells are obtained by splitting until a sufficient amount of muscle tissue is produced. Then there will be a scene in which a large amount of meat grows on the film and is taken off from the film after it has been covered with one piece, stretched and then placed on another piece of meat. The layers are superimposed and inexhaustible.

Scientists say that this kind of "artificial meat" is absolutely clean and has many advantages. It can fundamentally eliminate viral infections such as mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth disease. It can also control nutrition and reduce the pollution caused by keeping poultry. More importantly, it may also solve the more significant challenges that humans face, such as the food shortage caused by population growth and rising food prices.

However, don’t expect to see juicy “artificial” steaks that can be eaten up now. The technology has not yet reached the stage where blood vessels can be synthesized or large pieces of meat with a three-dimensional structure can be grown.

Scientists began to cultivate animal cells in bioreactors and petri dishes 10 years ago. This technology was originally conceived from the manufacture of food for astronauts who perform space missions for a long time. In 2000, the earliest edible muscle protein was produced in the laboratory by Benjaminson of Applied Biosciences Research Institute at Toro University in New York, USA, using the muscle tissue of goldfish. Later, scientists quickly realized the wide applicability of this technology and began to use it to solve human food.

With the traditional meat "court rivalry"

In mid-April 2008, the first international test tube meat seminar was held in Norway. The “New Economic Analysis” published by participants pointed out that the price of meat grown in a large pool called a bioreactor in the future should be in the range of 5,200 to 5,500 USD/ton (3,300 to 3,500 EUR/ton). The so-called "artificial meat" still has a competitive advantage over European beef prices. The report pointed out that after setting a series of technical standards, artificially produced meat may be placed on the shelf of supermarkets in the near future and compete with consumers for traditional meat.

The United Nations is very interested in the development of this technology. Because of its estimation, the world’s population will increase from the current 6.2 billion to 9 billion within the next 40 years, and the living materials will not be able to satisfy everyone’s needs. Bernard of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said: "We are looking for other technologies to produce food for the people of the earth. Even if we do not succeed today, we will continue to work hard in 10, 20 and 30 years."

Scientists at the symposium believe that most people have not prepared for this kind of "artificial meat" mentally. In fact, according to their estimates, a significant portion of the costs of this emerging industry will be used for promotional activities in order to make people aware of the benefits of this meat.

People feel that this meat is not "natural". Some experts, such as American engineer Paul Kosnic, think that this kind of meat is not as natural as yogurt. He said that making this kind of meat "is like putting 100,000 chickens in jars and injecting a lot of antibiotics into them."

It is worth mentioning that the experts attending the seminar have not personally tried the results of their research and development in the laboratory.

"First person" will receive millions of dollars

It is always people’s dream to not kill but to enjoy delicious food. In April this year, a United States Animal Protection Organization (PETA) stated that they would like to come up with a one-million-dollar award for the first person to create a "artificial meat" production method that has commercial quality and competitive prices. The organization stipulates that the production of "artificial chicken" must meet the market demand of the 10 states in the United States, and the price is equal to the price of ordinary chicken. A panel of judges will identify "artificial chicken" and if the taste and texture of the chicken are the same as ordinary chicken, the inventor can win the prize. The deadline for the listing of "artificial meat" is June 30, 2012.

Hagersmann is a professor at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and a pioneer of research on “artificial meat”. He does not want to see this area dominated by the topic of animal welfare because he believes that the topic of environmental and public health is the most It is important to "drive this research."

Another Utrecht scientist, Jollen, said that he was "very surprised" at the news of the "artificial meat" contest. He pointed out that even if there is a strong financing method, it is necessary to produce commercial scale by 2012. " "Artificial meat" is also very difficult. As a researcher, he thought that this announcement did not make much sense: "I engaged in research because I wanted to understand the basic mechanisms, not to obtain wealth."

Mironov is a “artificial meat” researcher at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He believes that technology is not a problem. Investment is the key to successful research. He said that to achieve industrial-scale production, it would be unrealistic to have 10 years and 50 million to 100 million U.S. dollars in funds.

Mass production is not easy

Scientists in the United States and the Netherlands have been experimenting with "artificial meat" and have caused widespread concern in the scientific community. Many scholars believe that the focus of this experiment should be expanded, for example, whether it is possible to use this "artificial" method to mass-produce human muscles or tissues for clinical medicine.

"The so-called animal cell and tissue culture is the removal of cells or tissues from animals, simulating the physiological environment in vivo. Under sterile, suitable temperature and abundant nutrient conditions, the cells or tissues can survive, grow and maintain their structure and function. A technology, "said one expert, "but it is unlikely to want to breed 'artificial meat' on a large scale."

In order to artificially cultivate the muscles of animals, the whole piece of meat cut from the animal is dispersed into individual muscle cells and then added to breed. However, due to the relatively small amount of muscle cells in the whole tissue, only a small portion of muscle cells can be obtained by taking a pound of meat. If you want to use these muscle cells to grow a pound of muscle, then you need a lot of muscle cells to add value. In the experiment, researchers found that after normal cells have been cultured in vitro for more than 15 generations, there is a high possibility that the cells will be transformed into tumors. However, the muscle cells themselves have limited value-adding ability, and therefore they need to be used during the cultivation process. The cells, but the use of such cells can only produce two kinds of results, one is that the cells that have already died are dead, and the other is that the cells have become cancerous.

At the same time, the cell detachment environment is in a non-physiological state, and the non-physiological state is less stable. In vitro culture of cells must be able to maintain and simulate the cells in the body to survive the environment and material metabolism, for this must provide the necessary nutrients, appropriate pH, strict aseptic conditions, osmotic pressure, culture vessels, temperature and carbon dioxide, etc. condition. Even in such an experimental environment, it is difficult to simulate a complete human environment, and the metabolism and self-repairing functions of the cells are affected. Therefore, all cells in the in vitro culture process will undergo more or less change.

Vegetarians can accept

To support or oppose "artificial meat," some people have already stated their position early. For example, it has been suggested that vegetarians can accept "artificial meat" on the grounds that: "artificial meat" production reduces the suffering of animals; reduces the threat of human health; reduced the impact on the environment; to provide consumers with More choice opportunities; reduced production costs.

The objections include: the production of "artificial meat" or the use of animals; it is an artificial product; it involves quality problems; the difference between "artificial meat" and traditional meat; it is related to economic effects.

Proponents of "artificial meat" say that stem cells are not a matter of life; they are just a bunch of cells. However, opponents believe that there is always some immorality or disrespect for life in the “artificial meat” that comes from the animal body, as if the tissue that grew in the petri dish was not from a living, emotionally conscious life. It came from the cracks in the stone.

If the technology is successful, this artificially cultivated meat may be made to be a healthier protein food than any conventional meat. People can make this kind of meat rich in healthy fats, such as containing more omega-3 fatty acids. They can also adjust the quality of the meat according to personal taste. Moreover, the cultivation of meat also reduces the chance of infecting bacteria and diseases, and can prevent food from falling off. Source-borne diseases do not appear to outweigh the harm caused by meat antibiotics or excessive bacteria in the animal husbandry industry that harm consumers and meat products from being recalled for destruction.

Flavors are another problem. It is estimated that scientists will need about 10 years of R&D time to achieve the desired taste and texture of “artificial meat”.

Scientists suggest that the meat cultured in vitro is much like hydroponics, and the ultimate product is the same, but the process is somewhat difficult. “Now consumers have already received hydroponic vegetables, and in the future people may also accept hydroponic meat.” (Yi Yun)

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