Some Meaty Stem Cells

Netherlands-based lab grown meat company Meatable is creating beef, chicken and even exotic proteins by mimicking cellular growth that occurs inside the body. Because lab grown meat seeks to provide a satisfying meat option without the devastating environmental impact, dozens of companies are working globally to bring lab grown meat options to market. Meatable’s approach involves obtaining a cell sample from an animal and selecting the most genetically optimized cell line, which is then grown in vitro into muscle and fat tissues that are made into the final product. The cell culturing and differentiation process yields animal meat in as little as three weeks, which is a much faster timeline than raising animals for meat.

Meatable is one of many companies aiming to eliminate the significant greenhouse emissions and environmental impact of the livestock industry, since over 14% of all global greenhouse emissions come from livestock farming, processing and transportation. As cell differentiation protocols are improved in all aspects of research, these same culturing protocols could be adapted to stem cell differentiation into organs and tissues that many people desperately need as they wait on transplant lists. Advances in the lab grown meat industry will not only create a viable alternative to traditional meat obtained from animals, but will also offer insight for researchers culturing cells for a variety of other applications.

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