Laboratory-raised meat

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http://washingtontimes.com/business/20050815-101639-7678r.htm

Researchers are dishing up the perfect conundrum for vegetarians --

meat grown in a laboratory dish, not on the hoof. While it may be

years before laboratory-raised meat hits your store shelf, researchers

say the technology exists now to produce processed meats such as

burgers and sausages, starting with cells taken from a cow, chicken,

pig, fish or other animal. Growing meat without the animal would have

a number of advantages. It would reduce the need for the animals --

which often are raised in less than ideal conditions. Meat production

is also blamed for a variety of environmental ills. And cultured meat

also could be tailored to be healthier than farm-raised meat, while

satisfying the increasing demand for protein by the world's growing

population, proponents say. J. Ford, a British biologist and the

author of " The Future of Food, " said the widespread acceptance of meat

substitutes such as " quorn, " a cultured fungus, " shows that the time

for cultured tissue is near. " Techniques for engineering muscle cells

and other tissues were first developed for medical use. Now a handful

of researchers are looking into growing edible muscle cells, said

Matheny, a University of land doctoral student who

co-authored a paper on in-vitro meat techniques. Industrializing the

process could involve growing muscle cells on large sheets or beads

suspended in a growth medium.

The sheet would have to be stretched, or the beads would have to be

able to expand, to stretch the cells and provide the exercise needed

for the cells to develop, he said. " If you didn't stretch them, you

would be eating mush. It would be like pink-colored Jell-O, " Mr.

Matheny said. Once the cells have grown enough, they could be scraped

off and packaged. If edible sheets or beads are used, all of it could

be eaten. " The technology is there to produce something like a

processed meat; you could produce a heavily processed chicken meat

just like, perhaps, a nugget, " Mr. Matheny said.

B.