So far cultured meat has been burgers; next challenge is animal-free steaks

International News

The meat you eat, if you’re a carnivore, comes from animal muscles. But animals are composed of a lot more than just muscle. They have organs and bones that most Americans do not consume. They require food, water, space and social connections. They produce waste.
Farmers spend a lot of energy and resources to grow complex organisms, creating waste in the process, only to focus on the profitable cuts of meat they can harvest.
It would be easier, more humane, less wasteful, to produce just the parts people want. And with cell biology and tissue engineering, it is possible to grow just muscle and fat tissue. It’s called cultured meat. Scientists provide cells with the same inputs they need to grow, just outside an animal: nutrients, oxygen, moisture and molecular signals from their cell neighbors.
So far researchers have cultivated bunches of cells that can be turned into processed meat like a burger or a sausage. This cultured meat technology is still in the early phases of research and development, as prototypes are scaled-up and fine-tuned to prepare for the challenges of commercialization. But already bioengineers are taking on the next tougher challenge: growing structured cuts of meat like a steak or a chicken cutlet.
What meat’s made of
If you look at a piece of raw meat under the microscope, you can see what you’re eating on the cellular level. Each bite is a matrix of muscle and fat cells, interlaced with blood vessels and enrobed by connective tissue.

 The muscle cells are full of proteins and nutrients and the fat cells are full of, well, fats. These two cell types contribute to most of the taste and mouth-feel a carnivore experiences when biting into a burger or steak...Read More