Researchers at The University of Tokyo establish an approach of culturing meat in the lab in the type of millimeter-scale contractile beef muscle that carefully imitates steak meat. Credit: Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo
Humans are mostly omnivores, and meat in different types has actually constantly included in the diet plan of the majority of cultures. However, with the increasing population and pressure on the environment, conventional techniques of conference this basic food requirement are most likely to fail. Now, scientists at the University of Tokyo report ingenious biofabrication of bovine muscle tissue in the lab that might assist satisfy intensifying future needs for dietary meat.
With worldwide urbanization, the economics of animal husbandry are ending up being unsustainable. From an ecological perspective, the land and water expenses of contemporary mega-scale animals farming are illogical, as are the greenhouse gas emissions and the total toll in the world. Additionally, ethical issues versus inhuman exploitation of lower types for food are significantly being voiced.
To address future requirements, tissue engineering of cultured meat is under advancement at numerous centers worldwide. However, most biosynthetic meat items are amorphous or granular-like minced meat, doing not have the grain and texture of genuine animal flesh. Mai Furuhashi, lead author, discusses their unique procedure. “Using techniques developed for regenerative medicine, we succeeded in culturing millimeter-sized chunks of meat wherein alignment of the myotubes help mimic the texture and mouthfeel of steak. For this, myoblasts drawn from commercial beef were cultured in hydrogel modules that could be stacked allowing fusion into larger chunks. We determined the optimal scaffolding and electrical stimulation to promote contractility and anatomical alignment of the muscle tissue to best simulate steak meat.”
Lead author, Yuya Morimoto, explains the manufactured item. “Our morphological, functional and food feature analyses showed that the cultured muscle tissue holds promise as a credible steak substitute. Breaking force measurements showed that toughness approached that of natural beef over time. Significantly, microbial contamination was undetectable; this has implications for cleanliness, consumer acceptability and shelf-life.”
“Our method paves the way for further development of larger portions of realistic cultured meat that can supplement or replace animal sources,” claims Shoji Takeuchi, senior and matching author. “However, there is a long way to go before lab-grown meat is indistinguishable from the real thing and hurdles concerning consumer acceptance and cultural sensibilities are overcome. Nevertheless, this innovation promises to be a green and ethical alternative to animal slaughter in meeting our need for dietary meat.”
Reference: “Formation of contractile 3D bovine muscle tissue for construction of millimetre-thick cultured steak” by Mai Furuhashi, Yuya Morimoto, Ai Shima, Futoshi Nakamura, Hiroshi Ishikawa and Shoji Takeuchi, 2 March 2021, npj Science of Food.
DOI: 10.1038/s41538-021-00090-7
