Lab-Created Meat, Potential Food Source of the Future.

  Livestock activities throughout the world are estimated to contribute quite a lot to greenhouse gas emissions.

Assessment data conducted by the UN Food Agency or FAO noted that total carbon dioxide emissions resulting from livestock activities reached 14.5% of all carbon dioxide emissions produced by human activities.

Apart from carbon dioxide, livestock also produces large amounts of two other greenhouse gases, namely nitrous oxide and methane. These two gases have a stronger greenhouse gas effect than carbon dioxide. Dinitrogen monoxide has a 298 times stronger effect per unit weight than carbon dioxide over a 100 year period! Dinitrogen monoxide reacts with oxygen to form nitrogen monoxide, then nitrogen monoxide breaks down the ozone layer.

Meanwhile, methane gas emissions have an effect 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide gas emissions of the same amount over a period of 100 years. 

The high impact of methane gas and nitrous oxide has caused industry and scientists to carry out research and development to meet the increasing demand for meat with a more environmentally friendly production process.

One of the research is the development of artificial cultured meat in the laboratory. Artificial cultured meat is meat grown from animal cells. This meat is similar to the meat we usually find in markets or supermarkets, but does not come from slaughtered animals.

Synthetic meat from stem cells

At the end of 2019, there were around 55 companies in the world developing artificial cultured meat, also known as synthetic meat. One of them is Super Meat in Israel. They develop various artificial culture chicken meat products. Some experts argue that the stem cell-based meat industry is the future of a more environmentally friendly and humane food industry.

To make artificial cultured meat in the laboratory, scientists use stem cells or stem cells from animals, namely a type of cell whose job is to replace damaged cells that make up the body. Stem cells have a special ability, namely that they can reproduce themselves and have not yet differentiated or been programmed to become the desired cells or tissue.

Stem cells are taken from animals by biopsy. Next, the stem cells that have been taken will be isolated and transferred to media containing nutrients to be multiplied.

Stem cells from the extraction process are transferred to culture media which is generally referred to as buffer media (scaffolds). This buffer media must be made from material that is easily decomposed naturally and can be eaten.

Researchers and industry are still looking for the best supporting materials to produce burgers, nuggets and other processed meat products. Some use soy protein, gelatin, or other sources to form artificial cultured meat, depending on what type of meat is being produced.

After that, the animal stem cells in the buffer medium will undergo a process of growing and multiplying. The buffer medium in which stem cells have been grown is placed in a bioreactor for replication.

A bioreactor is a device system consisting of a container filled with liquid media containing nutrients such as protein, fat, sugar, minerals and vitamins and connected to an air source.

The replication process that occurs in this bioreactor then undergoes a differentiation process, namely from stem cells growing into thousands of muscle fibers until the final product is formed in the form of meat tissue. The process required to make meat can vary, generally ranging from 2-8 weeks.

Claimed to be cleaner and environmentally friendly

Because it is grown in a laboratory, artificially cultured meat is claimed to be cleaner than meat from slaughtered animals. Artificially cultured meat is less likely to be infected with E. coli bacteria which are usually found in animal waste or comes from contamination with other microorganisms which are usually found in the animal slaughter process.

In addition, artificially cultured meat also contains fewer antibiotics. Farm animals are usually given antibiotics to stay healthy. However, the use of this drug causes antibiotic resistance, which is when the drug can no longer prevent certain bacterial infections.

Meanwhile, in terms of impact on the environment, the artificial culture meat production process is believed to be more environmentally friendly than beef farming. The production of artificial culture meat requires less land and water use compared to livestock farming which requires large areas of land and requires clearing forest land.

Then, meat production from livestock also produces a lot of methane gas, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide or greenhouse gases which cause global warming. Meanwhile, the production of artificially cultured meat in a laboratory can reduce these gas emissions significantly.

The process of making artificial culture meat is also more humane because there is no need to slaughter and confine livestock.

Still in the early stages

Even so, the development of artificial culture meat is still very early. There are still many issues and concerns in society. For example, related to nutrition. It is not yet known whether artificial cultured meat is good for health or not.

Although scientists can control the amount of fat and cholesterol in artificial meat, the nutritional value of homemade cultured meat is not yet known.

Because artificially cultured meat is grown in a laboratory using animal cells, this form of food is still doubted by the vegetarian and vegan community. In addition, Muslims, Hindus and Jews still do not agree on whether this artificial meat meets the food legal standards of their faith.

Then, the costs required to develop artificial meat are also not effective. The production of artificial cultured meat for the first time in 2012 cost 325,000 United States dollars or the equivalent of IDR 4.6 billion! Scientists believe that if technology continues to develop and artificial cultured meat can be mass produced, the cost of making 150 grams of laboratory cultured meat burger will be 11 US dollars or around IDR 160 thousand. Of course, this price is still expensive when compared to the price of local slaughtered meat.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) is the first in the world to grant distribution permits for cultured chicken meat made by Eat Just, a company based in San Francisco, United States. This support from the Singapore government opens up the possibility that artificial chicken meat can be mass-produced, especially in Singapore.

Although artificial cultured meat is a hope for environmentally friendly food production in the future, many people question it. Will it taste as good as meat from slaughtered animals? A number of people have tasted the taste of this artificially cultured burger meat.

Most still think that laboratory-made cultured meat doesn't sound appetizing. Public opinion may still change. However, it will likely take many years of research before we can find lab-cultured meat on supermarket shelves or in restaurants.

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