Although the general public probably regards cultured (lab-grown) meats with some amusement, and perhaps disdain, it is a technological advance that promises to transform the agricultural industry of many countries. Cultured meats are made without killing or even harming animals. Muscle cells are taken from a biopsy of a living animal and grown in what is sometimes called a bioreactor by being fed and nurtured so they multiply. The muscle tissue they create is biologically identical to the meat that comes from a slaughtered animal, but is made in premises that have more in common with a factory than a farm.
The first cultured burger was unveiled in 2013 by Dr Mark Post of Maastricht University. It had taken two years to produce, and cost $300,000 to achieve, and was partly funded by Sergey Brin, one of the co-founders of Google. Since then the cost of production has fallen dramatically, as have the techniques needed to give the meats the texture and taste of the animal-produced meats they replicate. It is calculated that this year will see the price of cultured meats fall to the point where it can compete on price with traditionally-reared meats.
Rapid progress is being made with different types of meats. Cultured fish is seen as an alternative to depleting fishing stocks worldwide. It has yet to replicate the muscle texture of wild or farmed fish, but can already serve as a substitute in fish fingers, fish burgers or fishcakes. Cultured chicken was the first lab-grown meat to be passed for human consumption when it was approved by Singapore in 2020. It proves a valid substitute in chicken nuggets.
The chief advantage of cultured meats is that they are potentially limitless. Synthetic beef does not require vast acres of land for pasture, and does not threaten to convert rainforest land to agriculture. It does not use the antibiotics given to farm animals, and risk spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It does not involve the mistreatment, suffering or slaughter of animals.
Cultured meat raises the prospect in some countries of allowing current farmland to be returned to wooded or wild conditions, with the ecological and environmental gains this brings. It could enable people in poor countries to improve their diet without putting excess strain on the Earth’s resources. It currently has a high energy input, but this will diminish as production is scaled up and can be supplied from renewable or non-polluting sources.
For about 12,000 years humans have used animal husbandry as a source of protein, but the technology of cultured meats looks to change that. It will bring about major economic, environmental and cultural changes, enabling us to produce more food for the world without the drawbacks that this might otherwise involve.