Meat, Shmeat

Lab-grown meat has been around at least since 2000, when the NSR/Touro Applied BioScience Research Consortium managed to produce edible fish filets from goldfish cells; and in 2001, NASA—in hopes of providing future astronauts with Thanksgiving dinner—began generating lab-grown meat from turkey cells.

Among the latest attempts was a much-publicized, high-tech hamburger, product of vascular physiologist Mark Post’s research lab at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. The five-ounce burger was made from bovine muscle stem cells, which had been bathed in a culture medium containing fetal calf serum to promote growth and differentiation. Once the stem cells had differentiated—that is, transmogrified themselves into genuine muscle cells—they were fed with nutrient solutions and tacked to a sugar scaffold on which

DON'T MISS THE REST OF THIS STORY!
Create a free account to continue and get unlimited access to hundreds of Nat Geo articles, plus newsletters.

Create your free account to continue reading

No credit card required. Unlimited access to free content.
Or get a Premium Subscription to access the best of Nat Geo - just $19
SUBSCRIBE

Read This Next

AI can help you plan your next trip—if you know how to ask.
Did this mysterious human relative bury its dead?
This new birth control for cats doesn't require surgery

Go Further

Subscriber Exclusive Content

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet