From Lab to Kitchen: Taste Testing New Artificial Meat

by Aubrey Jill Ledesma

Who says revolution only happens in economics and politics? Now that the world is rapidly growing, there seems to be barely anything in life that is not changing. Who would have thought that as the earth revolves, so does the production of food!

Consumers are already accustomed to the natural way of processing food which is made in factories by slaughtering animals to make them. However, in 2013, scientists invented an extraordinary revolutionary food; grown in laboratories that starts from a singularity— the stem cell of an animal.

Lab-grown meat or clean meat is slaughter-free, and it does not require other environmental resources. Although it is artificially made, it is eco-friendly because it uses less land, water, and energy unlike the actual use of livestock from factories. Others may find it weird, but the process involves collecting a stem cell from an animal and converting it into trillions of cells.

A stem cell is a cell with the unique ability to develop new cells for the body, it replaces specialized cells that are damaged or lost. They can also multiply repeatedly to produce new cells that make up the lab-grown meat.

The procedure is harmless because a needle is only needed to get the cell from the animal. This single stem cell also consists of muscle cells that are filtered and isolated from other cells like fat cells. It is eventually moved from an artificial environment that needs proteins and nutrients in order to grow. One of the experiments in Tel Aviv, Israel was the making of steak from a cell of a cow which tasted close to the regular ones that we eat from fancy restaurants.

However, lab-made meat is still considered a work in progress and lawmakers argued that in order for meat to be called meat, it should come from livestock. Consequently, this process still has a lot to go through to be approved; it is not yet known considering its safety and potential impact on the people who love to eat meat.

Undeniably, this revolutionary food will eventually change the world if approved by law. However, everyone should still be responsible and aware of satisfying their cravings amidst the ongoing trends of the kitchen.