10 Must-Knows in the Future of Food: Bioprinting.
- Bioprinting is the production of a food by replicating cells over and over again. 3D Food Printing is the creation of food by layering already existing elements on top of each other (just like normal 3D printing). “Printing” combines the two.
Printing is starting out in the form of “clean meat” — meat tissue produced by replicating cells, meaning that while it is animal, it was never alive. After this, personalized nutritional printing and vegetable printing will continue to develop. It’s likely you’ll first be able to access printed goods in supermarkets (meat), then in restaurants (flavors, etc.), and finally in your own homes (personalized printed nutrition). Picture a printer sitting next to your microwave. When you first get it, you input your health and nutrition profile, determined by blood testing. After that all you have to do is load it with bioink, select the programming for the meal you’d like, and soon enough: Voila! Dinner is served.
2. It’s already receiving alot of buzz — in fact, it’s backed by investors like Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Tyson, and Cargill.
It’s not just me who thinks this is a good idea. More and more big players are backing biofabricated meat every day. It’s getting buzz (the first step in widespread acceptance!) and even causing controversy in the meat industry (see: The Beef Industry Has Fired Its First Shot in the Fight Against Cell-Cultured Meat) — printing leaders must be doing something right.
3. It’s already begun.
In addition to Memphis Meats, backed by Branson and Gates, classic 3D printing standout BeeHex has found wild success in a place you might not expect: outer space.
Yep, you read that right. BeeHex has created a 3D printer specially designed to provide astronauts with fresh, specially tailored nutrition rather than freeze-dried beef. Even better, it can print pizza — astronaut’s most highly requested meal.
This personalization in nutrition and in flavor are where printing’s true opportunities lie, for NASA, the U.S. military (with which BeeHex recently contracted), and the population at large.
4. It opens doors for the public, in nutrition and health.
We’re talking big prospects here — a way to alleviate malnourishment. On both ends of the spectrum, from obesity to starvation, people aren’t getting the nutrients they need. Personalized nutrition can put a stop to that when it becomes accessible to all.
5. It opens doors for the industry, in personalization and expansion.
Right now it’s all about personalization. Products, services, locations — people want things made for them. This desire can be a huge obstacle for producers who simply don’t have the scale to create so many tailored options. Printing can break down this barrier, giving the people what they want and allowing businesses to expand in offering.
6. It opens doors for chefs, in precision of flavor, texture, and cell profile.
Culinary tradition is rich and multifaceted and filled with human emotion. There’s no way technology could swoop in and usurp this.
That’s why printing has to be a supplement to, not a replacement for, creativity in food. Bioprinting’s main advantage is its ability to alter the content of the foods we use now in production, flavor, and/or nutritional profile. These altered foods will then be used in the same recipes and practices we use now — but bioprinting will increase a chef’s control immensely.
7. It’s not “unnatural” or anything to be afraid of.
a) If you feel funny about GMOs, know that printed foods are not inherently modified: You can replicate a cell without changing it!
b) Experts believe modified cells are safe to eat when they pass inspection, so you can take advantage of new flavors and other things that require editing without fear!
8. Personalized nutrition can save lives, which is good for people with food sensitivities.
My own grandma passed away in concert with food sensitivity issues. We all know someone who has them. Many of you have them yourselves. Printing’s personalized nutrition will make avoiding reactions infinitely easier. It will tailor food for people who didn’t even know they had mild sensitivities, too: prime health for everyone.
9. It’s good for everyone with a history of heritable family health problems: Genes may be affected by nutrigenomics, the science of combining nutrition with genetics.
The world of DNA-based personalized nutrition — or nutrigenomics, as doctors call it — is complex, to say the least. There’s still a lot of work to be done in the field. But when we get there? Magic.
We’re looking at the potential to change your DNA — to prevent disease in yourself, your children, your children’s children’s children — with the simple act of printing food tailored to prevent your health risks. That’s too big an opportunity to pass up.
10. It may change our relationship with food, and we need to make sure that change is for the better.
Food is inextricably tied with emotion. This has served us evolutionarily to prepare our bodies to fight off foes and live through trials.
What will the ability to print anything we want mean for our emotional ties to food? Printing will allow us to make ‘unhealthy’ food healthier. It will also mean an even larger focus on nutrition ‘perfection,’ an issue our society already struggles with.
It’s imperative that we consider the ethical implications of how we implement this tech. How can we take advantage of all printing’s benefits while also fostering healthier relationships with food? We need you to be part of the conversation.
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Contact me at sgt26@georgetown.edu with any and all questions or thoughts. To learn more, check out Printing Your Dinner: Personalization in the Future of Food, available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle starting June 11!
