Lab meat is grown in a petri dish in an incubator. Cells are grown as mono layers in a nutritious soup (the culture medium). The red colour indicates the ph level, or the acidity of the medium.

Lab grown meat: a low-fat, low-carbon, cruelty-free future?

Matilda Lee

6th April, 2010

The technology isn't fully developed yet, but when meat really can be grown in a lab it's going to turn all our arguments about carnivorous diets on their heads...

Veteran US food campaigner Michael Pollan famously said: 'Food should be alive, and that means it should eventually die'.

A simple truth, but how does it apply to the emerging science of laboratory-grown meat? Is something that originates from a stem cell, is grown inside nutrient-rich liquid, and is mechanically stretched to increase its size and protein content, ever really alive? Once cooked, what would in vitro meat be like - steak or roast? Drumsticks or chicken breast? Gammon or chops?

There is no end to the types of questions 'cultured', 'in vitro' or 'lab grown' meat throws up. But supporters claim the technology will help bring an end to many of the ills for which the conventional meat industry is blamed, from excessive greenhouse gas emissions to pandemic zoonotic diseases, food-borne illnesses and widespread farm animal abuse.

At least another five to 10 years will pass, scientists say, before anything like it will be available for public consumption, but in vitro technology has the potential to revolutionise the meat industry - while catering to the demands of the world's increasing population of hungry carnivores.

The way it works

The first taste of this...

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