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Synthetic Meat - Coggle Diagram
Synthetic Meat
What is it?
Also known as lab-grown meat, cultured meat, and in vitro meat.
Synthetic meat is alternative to traditional meat (beef from cows, chicken) which is grown in a laboratory.
Challenges
A major challenge with of synthetic meat creation is upscaling as the first small meat patty created cost $300,000 (USD).
One idea to overcome this challenge was presented by a biotech company in Israel who proposed that shops and restaurants grow there own meat on a smaller scale.
The nutrient-rich serum has only been successfully created through a concoction of sugars, amino acids, and animal blood which presents an issue for the vegan and vegetarian market.
Some companies are attempting to create a blood-free alternative however it is proving to be difficult.
Benefits
Live stock farming takes up a significant amount of land and water, much more than compared to crops, and emits greenhouse gas equivalent to burning fossil fuels.
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The taste of synthetic meat can be manipulated freely, meaning the taste of meat can be improved.
How is it made?
Synthetic meat is made by growing muscle cells in a nutrient serum which encourages them to grow into muscle-like fibres.
Simpler animal products such as artificial milk or hen-free eggs can be grown from yeast that is genetically altered to produce proteins found in milk and eggs which is then extracted and blended.
The process of creating cells can begin with just a few 'satellite' cells which can be obtained from small samples of muscle taken from live animals.
When fed a nutrient-rich serum the cells turn into muscle cells and proliferate, doubling in number every few days.
After being multiplied, the cells are encouraged to form strips as how muscle cells form fibres in living tissue.
The strips of cells are then 'stretched' by attaching them to sponge-like scaffolds which flood the fibres with nutrients. The 'stretching' is much like typical mechanical exercising and works to increase the fibre's size and protein content.