It is completely experimental but not necessarily bad for the environment ... remains to test the taste
Who sticks to it?
The debate is open...
Test tube hamburger: are we ready for unnatural meat?
Tuesday February 21 2012 to 15h12
Fast food is difficult to dethrone when it comes to chemicals and a new concept that should see the light next fall could cause debate: the stem cell hamburger.
In a few months, fast food addicts may have the privilege of tasting a hamburger made from bovine stem cells for the first time. For the moment kept in the test tubes of a Dutch laboratory, this discovery could according to its creator upset the breeding, the world food and benefit the environment.
A project favorable to animals and the environment
On the sidelines of the annual conference of the American Society for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) gathered this weekend in Vancouver, Dr. Mark Post, doctor by training and head of the physiology department of the University of Maastricht (Country Low), announced that this project would probably see the light of day in October.
He added that this project was funded by a wealthy donor who wanted to remain anonymous but who wanted to "see a decrease in the number of farm animals slaughtered for their meat and thus reduce the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the breeding".
Mark Post considered that this novelty on the market posed no risk to the health of its consumers by stressing that the technology was well mastered. For this first experiment, the scientist used skeletal muscle cells from cattle grown in fetal calf serum, claiming that "the tissues produced have exactly the same structure as the originals".
A repulsive method?
While preserving the environment and trying to reduce the number of animals slaughtered is a good initiative, it is not certain that it will attract many consumers. At a time when healthy and natural food is advocated and claimed by many food chains and fast food does not play the main role, eating a hamburger made from stem cells may not be the most attractive concept.
The meat produced in the laboratory can be controlled to present certain qualities such as for example contain high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega 3) good for health, specified the researcher. He added: "The meat produced from stem cells must look exactly like the one we are used to eating otherwise it will be impossible to convince people to give up what they know."
But after knowing the content, risky or not for health, of their new plate, skepticism and mistrust of consumers would risk outweighing their curiosity and their greed.
The Lively Weekend
http://weekend.levif.be/tendance/culina ... 938751.htm
Thirty years after the first test tube baby: the first in vitro steak?
Feed 9 billion people with artificial meat? The bet is not new, since the first symposium on the issue was held in 2008. It was about beef, but also pork, poultry and fish! A dispatch picked up by all the media relaunched the debate on Monday 20 February, announcing the imminent creation of steaks from stem cells.
Mark Post, a Dutch doctor in charge of the physiology department at the University of Maastricht (Netherlands), said at a scientific conference in Vancouver (Canada) that he planned to unveil this burger in October, and to see large-scale product in the next ten to twenty years.
The hell described by the film "Green Sun" is it therefore approaching? French teams stay away from this research. Cultures of muscle cells are performed in the laboratories of the National Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA) in Clermont-Ferrand or in other medical research laboratories, but they aim to understand muscle growth and repair in the field. medical. In no way to clone, assures Jean-François Hocquette, director of research. So who to follow?
Debate n ° 1: the environmental bonus
The argument. According to Mark Post, this project aims to "reduce the number of farm animals slaughtered for their meat and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) resulting from animal husbandry". True that it contributes to global warming because of the emissions of methane, a gas twenty times more powerful than carbon dioxide. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, livestock would be responsible for 18% of global GHG emissions in 2006.
The catch. The figure varies by country. In the United States, feedlots (intensive farming) are very emitting. In France, extensive practice obtains better results: "The contribution of the herbivorous and granivorous breeding sector is only 9%", assures Jean-François Hocquette. Reasons for this good performance? Livestock farming that does not lead to deforestation as in South America, which contributes to the upkeep of landscapes and which ensures, along with the meadows, the storage of carbon. Enough to offset 10% to 50% of GHG emissions.
Debate n ° 2: nutritional equivalence
The argument. "The tissues produced have the exact same structure as the originals, assures Mark Post. The meat produced from the stem cells must look exactly like what we are used to eating, otherwise it will be impossible to convince people to give up. what they know ".
The catch. "Our colleague's ground beef is a group of muscle cells, not a muscle," says Jean-François Hocquette. A bit like chipboard versus solid wood. A muscle is made up of both muscle fibers which contract during exercise, visibly cloned by Doctor Post, but also of a "connective tissue" made up of blood vessels, nerves and fat, "including one can suspect that they were not cloned. Or in very small quantities ".
The Meat Academy, which strongly opposed the cloning of meat in May 2011, specified in its press release: "A major difficulty (but far from being the only one) is to reproduce the finesse of the blood supply which provide the nutrients and growth factors necessary for cells by mimicking the irregularity of the heartbeat ".
Worse: even if the taste and texture are true, "the nutritional contribution will never be as important as with natural meat", estimates Maximilien Roner, biologist and president of the environmental consulting company BeCitizen. According to him, "to artificially achieve an optimal intake, it is much more interesting to eat insect meal!"
Debate n ° 3: the sorcerer's apprentice researcher
The argument. Mark Post ensures that this technique is under control: "My project aims to create meat from any stem cells using a technology developed in the medical field for more than twenty years and which is reaching maturity."
The catch. Not a word about cell culture conditions. But to multiply, they need a boost. They incubate at 37 ° C in boxes or tubes under a controlled gaseous atmosphere, and in a medium containing inter alia: antibiotics to prevent microbes from entering, and hormones to promote growth. In high doses. Even though the European consumer today refuses any hormone-containing meat.
Not a word either on the surprises of the cloning. "On cloned animals, we can now observe so-called 'epigenetic' changes in the structure of DNA," indicates Jean-François Hocquette. At the same age, the clone does not experience the same muscle development, without being know precisely why ".
Debate n ° 4: the money
The argument. According to Mark Post, this project was funded by a wealthy donor who wishes to remain anonymous.
The catch. In the absence of transparency, there are no questions left. What is the motivation of this patron? What return on investment does he expect? Does he have ethical concerns? "In public research, the funding and objectives of research programs are transparent, and the results are published", insists Jean-François Hocquette. There, the method is different: based on regular ad effects for several years. Another way to get people interested ... and to get funding.
Debate 5: The solution to feed the planet
The argument. "Meat production should double by 2050 to meet demand and already mobilizes 70% of our agricultural land," said Mark Post.
The catch. To feed all or part of the population, it will be necessary to change the scale of production of this famous artificial steak. Build profitable industrial manufacturing units. To date, the prototype hamburger has cost 250.000 euros. The researcher said the second should be more affordable, at 200.000 euros. On a large scale, it is the unknown.
And the Academy of Meat, in France, is not about to facilitate things. In her press release of May 2011, she said she was "determined to follow these questions with interest, if only not to allow the idea that 'meat without animals' constitutes a credible hypothesis of food production to gain recognition."
Morgan Bertrand
http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/planete/ ... vitro.html
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