Modern research into
in vitro meat arose out of experiments conducted by
NASA, attempting to find improved forms of long-term food for
astronauts in space.[SUP]
[10][/SUP] The technique was approved by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1995,[SUP]
[11][/SUP] and NASA has been conducting experiments since 2001, producing
in vitro meat from
turkey cells.[SUP]
[12][/SUP][SUP]
[13][/SUP] The first edible form was produced by the NSR/Touro Applied BioScience Research Consortium in 2000:
goldfish cells grown to resemble
fish fillets.[SUP]
[1][/SUP][SUP]
[4][/SUP][SUP]
[14][/SUP]
In 2001,
dermatologist Wiete Westerhof from the
University of Amsterdam, medical doctor Willem van Eelen, and businessman Willem van Kooten announced that they had filed for a worldwide
patent on a process to produce
in vitro meat.[SUP]
[15][/SUP] In the process, a
matrix of
collagen is seeded with
muscle cells, which are then bathed in a nutritious solution and induced to divide.[SUP]
[16][/SUP] Scientists in Amsterdam study the culture medium, while the
University of Utrecht studies the proliferation of muscle cells, and the
Eindhoven University of Technology is researching bioreactors.[SUP]
[16][/SUP] Van Eelen said that he had thought of the idea of
in vitro meat for years, since he was held in a Japanese
POW camp.
Jon F. Vein of the United States has also secured a patent (
U.S. Patent 6,835,390) for the production of tissue-engineered meat for human consumption, wherein muscle and fat cells would be grown in an integrated fashion to create food products such as beef, poultry and fish.[SUP]
[17][/SUP]
The first peer-reviewed journal article published on the subject of laboratory-grown meat appeared in a 2005 issue of
Tissue Engineering.[SUP]
[10][/SUP] Of course, the basic concept dates back further.
Winston Churchill said in the 1930s, "Fifty years hence, we shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium."[SUP]
[12][/SUP]
In 2008,
PETA offered a $1 million prize to the first company that brings lab-grown chicken meat to consumers by 2012.[SUP]
[2][/SUP] The Dutch government has put US$4 million into experiments into
in vitro meat.[SUP]
[12][/SUP] The
In Vitro Meat Consortium, a group formed by international researchers interested in the technology, held the first international conference on the production of
in vitro meat, hosted by the
Food Research Institute of
Norway in April 2008, to discuss commercial possibilities.[SUP]
[1][/SUP] Time Magazine declared
in vitro meat production to be one of the 50 breakthrough ideas of 2009.[SUP]
[18][/SUP] In November 2009, scientists from the Netherlands announced they had managed to grow meat in the laboratory using the cells from a live pig.[SUP]
[19]
The production of in vitro meat is currently very expensive - about US$1 million for a piece of beef weighing 250 grams (0.55 lb)[SUP][1][/SUP] - and it would take considerable investment to switch to large scale production. However, the In Vitro Meat Consortium has estimated that with improvements to current technology there could be considerable reductions in the cost of in vitro meat. They estimate that it could be produced for 3500€/tonne (US$5037/tonne),[SUP][5][/SUP] which is about twice the cost of unsubsidized conventional European chicken production.[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][5][/SUP]
However, it is suggested that the high costs of food in developed countries are linked to packaging and advertising as opposed to the actual cost of the food product.[SUP][31][/SUP]
[/SUP]
