What is lab-grown meat, and how is ‘cultured’ meat made?

Silicon Valley start-ups are racing to get lab-grown meat on the market. And with good reason.

What is lab-grown meat?

Emerging in the last two decades, cultured meat is a miracle of modern science. Scientists can harvest a small sample of cells from a living animal and cultivate the sample to grow outside the animal's body. They then shape the fully formed sample into cuts of meat.

Fish fillets, burgers, and bacon produced in this way taste just as consumers would expect them to—but millions of animals don’t need to be bred, confined, or slaughtered to create these real meat products.

How is lab-grown meat made and do animals die for lab-grown meat?

The term ‘lab-grown meat’ might sound off-putting. But labs are only involved to support ongoing research and development. Once they begin to produce at scale, cultured meat companies will swap out laboratories for facilities resembling microbreweries—a far cry from the industrial farms that profit from the abuse and slaughter of sentient animals.

Instead of killing animals, lab-grown meat is made by carefully removing a small number of muscle cells from a living animal, typically using local anesthesia to provide relief from pain. The animal will experience a momentary twinge of discomfort, not unlike the feeling of getting a routine blood test at the doctor’s.

Then, a lab technician places the harvested cells in bioreactors before adding them to a bath of nutrients. The cells grow and multiply, producing real muscle tissue, which scientists then shape into edible “scaffoldings.”

Using these scaffoldings, they can transform lab-grown cells into steak, chicken nuggets, burger patties, and even fish products. The final product is a real cut of meat, ready to be marinated, breaded, grilled, baked, or fried—no animal slaughter required!

Cells taken from a single cow can produce an astonishing 175 million quarter-pounder burgers.

Is lab-grown meat actually meat?

Yes! Lab-grown meat is real meat. It has the exact same animal cells as traditional meat—it’s the flesh of an animal. The difference is how it gets to your plate: lab-grown meat comes from cells harvested from a living animal, while conventional meat comes from an animal who is raised and killed for human consumption.

The idea that no animal has to be raised or killed could convince ethically-minded consumers to opt for lab-grown meat over conventional meat products. As Brian Spears of the startup New Age Meats puts it:

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People want meat. They don’t want slaughter.

~ Brian Spears, New Age Meats

Is cultured meat artificial?

Lab-grown meat isn’t artificial meat. It just happens to grow in a lab, not on a factory farm. Scientists are even working to ensure that lab-created muscle tissue mimics the exact texture of traditionally-grown meat.

Thanks to this innovation, meat-lovers can still enjoy the products they already know and love, with the knowledge that no animals were brutally raised or slaughtered for their meal.

Is lab-grown meat healthy?

Due to its high cholesterol and saturated fat content, meat consumption can lead to disease. But when growing meat in a lab, food scientists can control the quantities of harmful cholesterol and saturated fat in each cut, making it a healthier alternative.

Lab-grown meat could also mitigate the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. Since the animals are not kept in filthy factory farms, or bred in painful, disease-prone ways to maximise meat production, there is far less of a need for antibiotic treatment. Plus, lab-grown meat is pretty resilient against bacteria like E. coli.

Lab-grown meat will offer new options to consumers looking for proteins that are kinder to their health, as well as to the planet and animals.

Is lab-grown meat better for the environment?

The industrial farming of animals is a major driver of climate change, deforestation, air and water pollution, and other planetary hazards. According to the United Nations, animal agriculture contributes an estimated 14.5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Lab-grown meat could offer a solution.

Admittedly, a number of lab-grown meat producers currently rely on fossil fuels to power their facilities. However, it requires just a fraction of the intensive land use, deforestation, and water that conventional meat production requires.

Studies show that producing lab-grown meat using renewable energy would have a significantly lower carbon footprint than even the most 'sustainably-raised' traditional meat products.

Can vegans eat lab-grown meat?

Lab-grown meat is not technically vegan, because it contains cells taken from real, living animals.

Lab-grown meat is designed to appeal to meat-eaters concerned about the ethical and environmental implications of factory farming.

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The companies developing lab-grown meat believe this is the product most likely to wean committed meat-eaters off traditional sources.

~ Damian Carrington, The Guardian

And, based on what companies and researchers have already shared about lab-grown meat, additional health benefits and reduced environmental impacts may also make lab-grown meat a more enticing choice for consumers.

Although animals are still kept in captivity for its production, the small herds required for cellular agriculture pale in comparison to the thousands of animals crammed into a single factory farm. A future where lab-grown meat is the norm has the potential to significantly reduce animal suffering on a global scale—and this is something we can definitely get on board with!

Is lab-grown meat bad?

Lab-grown meat isn’t perfect—yet!

Some lab-grown meat contains an animal by-product known as fetal bovine serum. Slaughterhouses obtain fetal bovine serum by collecting blood from the unborn calves of pregnant cows after they’re killed.

San Francisco-based lab-grown meat producer Eat Just uses a “very low level” of the serum in its chicken, which is the first lab-grown meat product to hit the market. In response to ethical concerns about using a slaughterhouse byproduct in the otherwise lab-grown meat, Eat Just is developing an animal-free alternative to fetal bovine serum.

Another controversy surrounding lab-grown meat is its price. Some companies are reportedly working with a cost of around $50 per serving (that’s about £37)—significantly more expensive than conventional meat. Hopefully, prices will drop as companies scale up operations, making it more accessible.

When will lab-grown meat be available?

Right now, lab-grown meat companies are working to perfect their products, lower costs, and scale up. After their government approved the sale of lab-grown meats in 2020, consumers in Singapore got the first chance to taste lab-grown chicken.

More consumers around the world should get their first taste of lab-grown meat soon. In the UK, we could see these products hitting shelves by 2023.

What can I do to have an impact?

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