While plant-based burgers are deliciously gaining popularity, a handful of startups are working to make real, environmentally friendly beef and chicken from animal cells without farming animals. For those who want to embrace clean food solutions, but can’t imagine giving up steak-like texture, this one’s for you.
Aleph Farms announced this week that it has incubated a prototype steak made from real animal cells in a food lab. See An Israeli start-up with ties to Americas most popular hummus brand says it made the world’s first lab-grown steak–a holy grail for the industry:
Instead of growing only one or two types of animal cells on a flat surface, Aleph grows four types of animal cells in three dimensions. The company also claims to be growing them in a medium that is free of fetal bovine serum, the rich cow-based liquid that’s currently the lab standard for nourishing cells.
Here is a direct video link.
In addition:
The Silicon Valley-based startup New Age Meats let Business Insider taste its lab-grown-sausage prototype in September; the vegan egg and mayo company Just (formerly Hampton Creek) claims to have made prototype chicken nuggets; and the Bill Gates-backed startup Memphis Meats said it produced the world’s first chicken strips from animal cells last March.”