Lab Grown Meat: The Future Sustainable Alternative to Meat or a Novel Functional Food?

Abstract

Lab grown or cultured meat belongs to the emerging field of cellular agriculture and represents a promising technology to deliver products that have so far produced through livestock. This technological innovation aims to offer a possibility of reducing the negative effects of current meat production and consumption on humans, livestock and the environment. For the creation of lab grown meat, it is required to add to a collagen matrix (obtained either from living or dead animals) adult muscle stem cells from a living animal, which is propagated in skeletal muscle strips in the laboratory. A circulatory system is also required to deliver oxygen and nutrients and to remove the metabolic waste. Although its production is possible, so far there is no significant progress for large-scale production and basic components of this process need deeper research. Among them, the production of cultured meat requires suitable cells and appropriate growth media, ideally non-animal in origin, to avoid animal components containing agents for communicable diseases, and the necessary edible materials for the matrices for cell growth to produce thicker and continuous pieces of meat such as steaks. Lab grown meat could be also an excellent functional food to cover specific dietary needs for people with various ailments. This is due to the capability of the technology to modify the profile of essential amino acids and fats, and to be enriched in vitamins, minerals and bioactive compounds. However, there are still some unanswered questions with regard especially to ethical and socioeconomic aspects.