The global demand for meat and dairy is expected to rise by almost 90% over the next 30 years, regardless of the need to cut back on meat consumption. The risk of environmental damage and the rising food demand itself is a problem many have recently been working to address. The dilemma has inspired scientists to come up with an alternative solution – growing animal-free meat in the lab. One company, in particular, has even branched out from using this method of growing food to help the planet, to also use it to help astronauts produce food while out on missions in space!
Israeli food company Aleph Farms figured out how to grow beef in space. The company conducted an experiment at the International Space Station to test if their method would work, and it did! The experiment took place inside of a 3D bioprinter developed by a Russian company called 3D Bioprinting Solutions and in collaboration with two U.S.-based food companies.
Bioprinting meat means: the “bioink” consisting of cow cells mixed with growth factors was “printed” into a layered structure – in this case, the resulting structure is a piece of muscle tissue. They printed animal cells in such a way to mimic a cow’s natural muscle-tissue regeneration process.
The experiment was just a proof of concept so the piece of meat that was produced was not eaten. They sent it back to Earth immediately for examination. Regardless, the fact that it worked demonstrates that cultivated meat can be produced under almost any conditions.
They already knew that growing meat in the lab works because Aleph developed the method years ago. They were able to grow an entire piece of steak out of just a few cells! What the space experiment shows is that it can even be done in a zero-gravity environment with limited resources. The difference is: on Earth, the printing can be done in layers, but in space, the lack of gravity makes this impossible. So, what did they do? They printed the tissue from all sides simultaneously, hence why in space it’s not normal flat steaks.
Yoav Reisler, an external relations manager at Aleph Farms, told Space:
Maturing of bioprinted organs and tissues in zero gravity proceeds much faster than in Earth gravity conditions. The tissue is being printed from all sides simultaneously, like making a snowball, while most other bioprinters create it layer by layer. On Earth, the cells always fall downward. In zero gravity, they hang in space and interfere only with each other. Layer by layer printing in gravity requires a support structure. Printing in zero gravity allows tissue to be created only with cell material, without any intermediate support.
A More Sustainable Protein Source
The 2019 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change special report states that animal farming – with its requirement for huge amounts of water and energy – contributes in a significant way to climate change. “Our planet is on fire and we have no other one today. Our primary goal is to make sure it remains the same blue planet we know also with our next generations,” Reisler said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-_Zy-arDb0
The fact that little resources, like water, are needed to lab grow meat means the method is better for the environment and it can be used to produce food in places on Earth where water is scarce. “In space, we don’t have 10,000 or 15,000 liters (3962.58 gallons) of water available to produce one kg (2.205 lbs) of beef,” said Didier Toubia, Co-Founder and CEO of Aleph Farms.
A World Resources Report found that by 2050 Americans will need to reduce their average consumption of beef by 40%, and Europeans by 22%, just to be able to feed the growing population. On top of that, livestock accounts for 14.5% of total global greenhouse emissions. Grown cultured meat uses about 10 times less water and land than traditional livestock agriculture (which normally uses up to 5,200 gallons of water to produce a single 2.2-pound (1 kilogram) steak).
“This joint experiment marks a significant first step toward achieving our vision to ensure food security for generations to come, while preserving our natural resources,” Toubia added. The need to produce more food while conserving natural resources is now more pressing than ever before and lab-grown meat could be the answer.
Correction: This article previously said that the meat was meatballs, Aleph Farms let us know that it was meat, but not meatballs. The article has been modified to reflect this.
