world's first test-tube artificial beef

7/27/2019 World's First Test-tube Artificial Beef

1/16

'At least it tastes of meat!': World's first test-tube

artificial beef 'Googleburger' gets GOOD reviewas it's eaten for the first time

The 142g patty cost 250,000 to make and consists of meat grown in a lab

Total of 20,000 strips of meat were grown in petri dishes in the Netherlands

The artificial meat was electrically stimulated to bulk up the 'muscle' and then

blended with 200 pieces of lab-grown animal fat

Red beetroot juice and saffron added to provide authentic beef colouring

It has also been revealed that one of the burger's financial backers is computer

entrepreneur, and Google co-founder, Sergey Brin

By Victoria Woollaston, Rachel Reilly and Nick Mcdermott

PUBLISHED: 08:06 GMT, 5 August 2013 | UPDATED: 23:52 GMT, 5 August 2013

3,484 shares

487

View

comments

It may look like something youd chuck on the barbecue without a second thought, but this round of meat costs

a very beefy 250,000 as the worlds first test-tube burger.

After the patty was lightly fried in a little butter and sunflower oil yesterday, the two volunteers chosen to taste

it in front of a live audience were hardly effusive, though.

I was expecting the texture to be more soft, said Austrian food researcher Hanni Rutzler, taking 27 chews

before being able to swallow a mouthful. Its close to meat its not that juicy.

The second volunteer, food writer Josh Schonwald added: The absence is the fat. But the bite feels like a

conventional hamburger. What was conspicuously different was flavour.

Scroll down to watch the taste test...


2/16

The world's first test-tube burger, made from lab-grown meat, (pictured) has been cooked

and eaten in London today. The 142g patty was developed by Professor Mark Post

(pictured) of Maastricht University in the Netherlands. It cost 250,000 to produce and is

made from 20,000 strips of meat grown from cow stem cells

The cultured beef takes three months to grow in a laboratory, using cells from a living cow.

Its creator, Dutch scientist Mark Post, claims it could revolutionise the food industry and help save the planet.

He believes that artificial meat products could be sold in supermarkets within a decade.

After tasting his invention yesterday, he said: I think its a very good start it proved that we can do this, that

we can make it. We are basically catering towards letting beef-eaters eat beef in an environmentally ethical

way.

Asked if he would feed the burger to his children, he said he was saving a piece of the cooked patty to give to

them later.

His burgers are created in a four-step process. First, stem cells which have the power to turn into any other

cell are stripped from cow muscle, which is taken during a harmless biopsy.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE 'FRANKENBURGER'

The stem cells are cultivated in a nutrient broth, allowing them to proliferate 30-fold.

Next they are combined with an elastic collagen and attached to Velcro 'anchor points' in a culture dish.

Between the anchor points, the cells self-organise into chunks of muscle.

Electrical stimulation is then used to make the muscle strips contract and 'bulk up' - the laboratory equivalent

of working out in a gym.

Finally thousands of beef strips are minced up, together with 200 pieces of lab-grown animal fat, and moulded

into a patty.


3/16

Around 20,000 meat strands are needed to make one 142g burger.

Other non-meat ingredients include salt, egg powder, and breadcrumbs. Red beetroot juice and saffron are

added to provide authentic beef colouring.

Next, the cells are incubated in a nutrient broth until they multiply many times over, creating a sticky tissue.

This is then bulked up through the laboratory equivalent of exercise it is anchored to Velcro and stretched.

Finally, 20,000 strips of the meat are minced and mixed with salt, breadcrumbs, egg powder and natural red

colourants to form an edible patty.

The secret celebrity backer who bankrolled the 650,000 project was yesterday unveiled as billionaire Google

founder Sergey Brin.

Professor Post said: He is as interested in solving the food problems as I am.

Mr Brin seems to believe quite confidently that man-made meat will do a great deal to help humanity.

In a video message played to attendees at yesterday's event, he said: 'Sometimes when technology comes

along, it has the capability to transform how we view our world.

'I like to look at technology opportunities. When technology seems like it is on the cusp of viability and if it

succeeds there, it can be really transformative for the world.'

'There are basically three things that can happen going forward - one is that we can all become vegetarian. I

don't think that's really likely.

'The second is we ignore the issues and that leads to continued environmental harm and the third option is we

do something new.

'Some people think this is science fiction - it's not real, it's somewhere out there. I actually think that's a good

thing.'

The tasting of a test-tube beef burger


4/16

The man-made patty (pictured) was fried in a pan and sampled by two volunteers -

US-based food author Josh Schonwald and Austrian food researcher Hanni Ruetzler. Ms

Ruetzler said that it had the 'perfect consistency'


5/16

Appetising? The meat had red beetroot juice and saffron added to provide an authentic

beef colouring. Despite these ingredients, taster Ms Ruetzler said it could have done with

some salt and pepper

Professor Post has spent seven years trying to turn stem cells into meat, and was first successful with mouse

burgers.

He then tried to grow pork producing strips with the rubbery texture of squid or scallops before settling on

beef.

His technique, he says, can be used to recreate the flesh of most animals, including rare species such as

tigers or pandas, although demand may be questionable.

WHO IS SERGEY BRIN?

It has just been revealed that Sergey Brin is one of the financial backers of the test-tube burger.

Mr Brin is an American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur who, with Larry Page, co-founded

Google.

Together with Page, he owns 16 per cent of the internet search giant .


6/16

His personal wealth is estimated to be 13.2bn in 2012.

He and Page previously invested in a large offshore wind farm in 2010 and a self-driving car in a bid to reduce

road accidents via Google's philanthropic arm.

It is believed that Mr Brin invested 215,000 in the creation of the burger.

Mr Brin has also invested in Space Adventures - the private space tourism company that is selling 65 million

trips to the Moon.

He has also previously worked with film director James Cameron to investigate mining asteroids and has aninterest in solving the worlds energy and climate problems .

Before the burger was cooked, he said: 'What we are going to attempt is important because I hope it will show

cultured beef has the answers to major problems that the world faces.

'Our burger is made from muscle cells taken from a cow.

'We havent altered them in any way. For it to succeed it has to look, feel and hopefully taste like the real

thing.'

The raw ingredients are 0.02in (0.5mm) thick strips of pinkish yellow lab-grown tissue.

Professor Post was confident he could produce a burger that was almost indistinguishable from one made

from a slaughtered animal.

And perhaps he wasn't far off. After taking a mouthful, taster Ms Ruetzler said: 'I was expecting the texture to

be more soft... I know there is no fat in it so I didn't know how juicy it would be.

'It's close to meat. It's not that juicy. The consistency is perfect (but) I miss salt and pepper!'

Professor Post pointed out that livestock farming is becoming unsustainable, with demand for meat rocketing

around the world.

Unveiling the research last year at a science meeting in Vancouver, Canada, he said: 'Meat demand is going

to double in the next 40 years. Right now we are using 70% of all our agricultural capacity to grow meatthrough livestock.

'You can easily calculate that we need alternatives.'

The 'artificial' meat is produced using a complex process - in effect turning a mere dish of stem cells into a

burger that can be grilled or fried.

First the stem cells are cultivated in a nutrient broth, allowing them to proliferate 30-fold.

Next they are combined with an elastic collagen and attached to Velcro 'anchor points' in a culture dish.

Between the anchor points, the cells 'self-organise' into chunks of muscle.

Electrical stimulation is then used to make the muscle strips contract and 'bulk up' - the laboratory equivalent

of working out in a gym.


7/16

Samples of the in-vitro meat, or cultured meat grown in a laboratory at the University of

Maastricht. Other non-meat ingredients include salt, egg powder, and breadcrumbs. Red

beetroot juice and saffron are added to provide authentic beef colouring

Finally the thousands of beef strips are minced up, together with 200 pieces of lab-grown animal fat, and

moulded into a patty. Around 20,000 meat strands are needed to make one 5oz (142g) burger.

Other non-meat ingredients include salt, egg powder, and breadcrumbs. Red beetroot juice and saffron are

added to provide authentic beef colouring.

REACTION TO THE STEM CELL BURGER

Jaap Korteweg, The Vegetarian Butcher said: 'From our perspective, the stem cell burger is an interesting idea

but is still powered by "fuels" from living animals.

'Only when its possible to grow stem cells on plant based materials it could be worthwhile to invest time and

money in this development. Now its still simply a detour.'

Dr Iain Brassington, bioethicist, Centre for Social Ethics and Policy, University of Manchester, said: 'While the

sight of someone eating a very expensive burger is clearly something of a publicity stunt, the underlying ideabehind laboratory-grown meat is sound.

'The research is highly laudable, because what it promises is so desirable.'

A major advantage of test-tube meat is that it can be customised for health, for instance by boosting levels of

polyunsaturated fats, said Professor Post.

Before the taste demonstration Professor Post was asked if he would feed lab-grown beef to his children.

He said: 'I ate it myself a couple of times without any hesitation whatsoever.


8/16

'Now a couple of people are going to taste it and my kids are jealous. I'd be very comfortable for them to taste

it.'

Manufacturing steaks instead of minced meat presents a much greater technical challenge, requiring some

kind of blood vessel system to carry nutrients and oxygen to the centre of the tissue, he added. Making

artificial chicken or fish from stem cells might be easier.

Dr Neil Stephens, a sociologist based at Cardiff University who has studied test tube meat, told AFP that the

project was an attempt to spark a debate about an issue that many in the field believe is still not taken

seriously enough.

He said that the developers want to demonstrate to the world that in-vitro meat is viable, and that it's

something to be taken seriously.

'What will be interesting is, in the coming weeks, watching the response to see how many people are

convinced by the technology,' he added.

The animal welfare organisation Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has welcomed the

research.

Dutch scientist Professor Mark Post examines samples of in-vitro meat grown in his lab.

In-vitro meat or cultured meat is an animal flesh product that has never been part of a

complete, living animal

A spokesman said: 'One day you will be able to eat meat with ethical impunity. In-vitro technology will spell the

end of lorries full of cows and chickens, abattoirs and factory farming. It will reduce carbon emissions,

conserve water and make the food supply safer.

'Lab-grown meat will provide people who were addicted from childhood to the saturated fat in flesh with the

methadone for their habit.'

The Food Standards Agency said: 'As the competent authority for novel foods in the UK, the Food Standards

Agency is closely following emerging technologies and developments concerning novel protein sources as

food.


9/16

'In-vitro' or cultured meat is not yet commercially viable, but the technology used to produce cultured meat

could be advanced enough for trials to take place.

'Any novel food, or food produced using a novel production process, must undergo a stringent and

independent safety assessment before it is placed on the market.

'Anyone seeking approval of an in-vitro meat product would have to provide a dossier of evidence to show that

the product is safe, nutritionally equivalent to existing meat products, and will not mislead the consumer.

'This would be evaluated under the EU regulation for novel foods, prior to a decision on authorisation. Therehave been no such applications to date.'

VIDEO: 'Googleburger' - Search engine's co-founder explains reasons for

sponsoring the world's first test-tube burger

'Googleburger'. Search engine's co-founder explains reasons...

MOST WATCHED NEWS VIDEOS

Previous

1

2

3

Next

Two-year-old girl channels Elvis her cover of An American...

Water bomber puts out traffic crash in spectacular style

'UFO' caught on CCTV in Florida


10/16

Man kisses shark. Shark bites man

Ram vs motorbike! Sheep shows biker who's boss in viral vid

Time Lapse: World's largest ship puts in to port at Busan

Oprah meets racist Swiss shop assistant

Must see: Jet puts out house fire

Contestants cry foul over BBC's Break The Safe show

Caught on camera: Miracle escape after shocking car smash

The importance of angles! Korean girl shows how to take...


11/16

Testing the luxurious Wally Ace superyacht

MOST READ NEWS

Previous

1

2

3

Next

Britain's crime hotspots: Astonishing new figures identify...

'BBC faked Break The Safe Lottery show and denied us 22,000...

Woman once dubbed Britain's fattest teenager sheds over...

Saatchi suicide threat rocks Nigella: Last-ditch bid to win...

Who's Nick Beef? Mystery of Lee Harvey Oswald's cemetery...


12/16

Baby Blues: Toddler gives precocious performance of Elvis...

Hannah Smith 'sent vast majority of hate messages to...

British girls who lived in Ibiza are arrested in Peru 'after...

Muslim preacher wanted for acid attack on British teenagers...

Spanish A&Es are forcing Britons who fall ill on holiday to...

Belle de Jour was my lover... and I don't believe she was a...

Expat benefit cheats enjoying 'fun in the sun' funded by the...

Comments (487)

Newest

Oldest

Best rated

Worst rated

View all


13/16

This scares vegetarians so much because once it becomes reality, their only real argument against eating meat (the death of an

animal) goes out of the window... Not being able to play the animal cruelty card to recruit new members is going to decimate their

ranks.... It's still early days yet, but the bell is definitely tolling for vegetarianism, which is a good thing for the vast majority of us who

are sick to the back teeth of their proselytising and moralising.

- Dave Ninetynine , Darlington - UK, 07/8/2013 15:03

Click to rate Rating 3

Report abuse

How about we just fund global education on how we as humans are actually supposed to eat. We over consume meat grossly. The

body has no need for all that meat. It is really just a brain craving at this point. If we ate only the tiny amount that our body can

actually process a lot of meat companies wld probly just flat out tank n the likeliness of meat ever running scarce wld be small. We

already live off enough unhealthy "chemicals, luxuries, and inventions" that are toxic n r accepted. Sm things really are... just perfect

asis Ppl with too much money and no common sense are starting to be the norm. Ill just not eat beef or chicken or whatever they

"grow" before I eat this. Wasteful humans always lookin for some backward over the top unnatural way out of some mess that's been

made from disrespecting what has been gifted to us naturally already. The cycle must be broken. They cld have dropped off enough

vegetables to feed a small town for this.

- Mecca Maxwell , charlotte, United States, 07/8/2013 14:32

Click to rate Rating (0)

Report abuse

Personally I have my concerns but with the right rules and regulations in place I can see this being the future. I am all for it!

- Wilts , Bath, United Kingdom, 07/8/2013 12:12


Report abuse

now this is how you begin getting zombies in the world...good luck better rack up on your bullets people!

- Morgan Alana , atlanta, United States, 06/8/2013 19:15


Report abuse

I'd rather encourage more of us to eat less meat and more veg than "grow" meat in petri dishes! Look at what happened horse meat

scandal and that was coming from animals. Think of what they'd add if they came from labs!

- Omosare Omogbagi , London, 06/8/2013 16:35


Report abuse

It's all too easy to scoff at innovation, imagine if we followed the notion of the luddites. Necessity is and always will be the mother of

invention and although its probably not feasible right now, in time it will more than likely be looked upon as normal.

- ray , reading, United Kingdom, 06/8/2013 15:47


Report abuse

Might we be seeing the first steps to the end of the mass terror and slaughter of sentient beings? I hope so, this has been a long

time coming.

- kaibo , crewe, 06/8/2013 15:16


14/16


Report abuse

God, bless us all.

-just a girl , overtherainbow, 06/8/2013 14:46


Report abuse

I think it's the future. It's not 'fake' meat, it's still beef, it's just not grown inside the cow but in a lab. This is a good thing, it means no

more mass slaughter of animals. Don't forget, this is just the first test, wait years for them to develop this and it will be amazing.

Maybe it's just us nerds that see this whole process as a good thing.

- Real Talk , London, 06/8/2013 14:03


Report abuse

"Surely the money spent on this could have been put to better use.- Emily , High Wycombe, United Kingdom, 06/8/2013 12:08" I cant

think of a better use than saving millions of animal suffering each year at the slaughterhouses.

- Scottyboy , Glasgow, 06/8/2013 13:39


Report abuse

Share this comment

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Like

MailOnline

Follow

@MailOnline

Today's headlines

Most Read

Heaven and hull: A rare glimpse inside the immaculate (almost celestial) workshop where super yachts are born

What's your Geek IQ? Take the YouTube test to discover if your nerdy knowledge really does make you an anorak

Scientists capture what the Universe looked like just 100,000 years after the Big Bang - and provide clues to how it all began

First Google, now Apple's at it: New feature follows mobile users wherever they go and produces a location history using

GPS

Is this the future of fracking? A town divided, celebrity protesters and wild health scares... After 15 years of bitter battle about

poisoned water, the birthplace of the drilling has finally accepted it is NOT the problem

Using a mobile phone in the car does NOT make driving more dangerous, claims study

Copy a human? I can do that with my eyes closed! Blindfolded dolphin mimics trainer's movements by using sound waves to

'see' what he is doing

Nasa launch mission to investigate whether it is possible to mine asteroids for precious metals - and add TRILLIONS to theeconomy

How Twitter could prevent food poisoning: Experts design software that 'listens' to tweets to reveal the restaurants that make

us ill

Scientists dissect a giant Mako Shark only to discover a 200lb SEA LION inside it

What do you get when you combine Google Glass and religion? JEWGLASS: Jewish app translates Hebrew and locates

nearby synagogues and kosher restaurants

The herd effect: Online products may be overrated because people 'like' what other people 'like'

Pink alien planet is smallest yet to be photographed with an orbit around a sun

Students launch 'travel' company that lets you to send a capsule into space and beam back images of the stratosphere - and

all for 350

Search for a Saxon king: Archaeologists hope to find Alfred the Great in an unmarked grave in Winchester

Pioneering radiation camera captures striking images of the Swan Nebula and galaxies millions of light years away


15/16

MORE HEADLINES

What's your Geek IQ? Take the YouTube test to discover if your nerdy knowledge really does make you an anorak

Scientists dissect a giant Mako Shark only to discover a 200lb SEA LION inside it

Search for a Saxon king: Archaeologists hope to find Alfred the Great in an unmarked grave in Winchester

Nasa launch mission to investigate whether it is possible to mine asteroids for precious metals - and add TRILLIONS to the

economy

Scientists capture what the Universe looked like just 100,000 years after the Big Bang - and provide clues to how it all began

Pink alien planet is smallest yet to be photographed with an orbit around a sun

First Google, now Apple's at it: New feature follows mobile users wherever they go and produces a location history using

GPSAstonishing fossil that immortalises two 8-foot dinosaurs locked in mortal combat could fetch a record 6 MILLION at auction

Meteor that crashed in Russia was part of a 656-foot wide asteroid that broke off during its orbit around Earth

Will Google finally slay Spotify? Subscription-based service Music All Access launches in the UK

There's a whiff of truth in the 'smell of fear': Detecting scary situations helps us become more aware of threats

Using a mobile phone in the car does NOT make driving more dangerous, claims study

Think your friends want to see pictures of you on Facebook? Think again: Posting photos on the site is found to be the

quickest way to LOSE friends

Pioneering radiation camera captures striking images of the Swan Nebula and galaxies millions of light years away

Could humans one day live on EUROPA? Nasa experts believe Jupiter's moon could be habitable

Copy a human? I can do that with my eyes closed! Blindfolded dolphin mimics trainer's movements by using sound waves to

'see' what he is doing

MOST READ IN DETAIL

GADGET REVIEWS

Gadget of the week: Lepow Moonstone 6000 mobile power bank

Ever been out and about and your phone's run out of juice? Of course you have. The Lepow Moonstone 6000mAh portable

powerbank could be a lifesaver.

Yurbuds Ironman Series headphones

The selling point of the Yurbuds are that they don't fall out. Which on the face of it, given that headphones are meant to stay in your

ears, doesn't seem that big a deal.

Gadget of the week: Kansi 9twenty folding bike

Feast your eyes on the Kansi 9twenty - one of a range of four bikes on the market in the UK - highly functional and fab looking. Well

worth the asking price.

Philips In Sight wireless home monitor

The Philips In Sight wireless home monitor is a brilliant way of keeping track of your home. Place it in any room and watch a live

video feed from your smartphone.

Sennheiser Momentum over-ear headphones

Quality comes at a price, but not as much as youd think. The Momentums blend state-of-the-art design and materials with

cutting-edge sound.

Philips ActionFit sports headband

I've always been skeptical about sports headphones that aren't in-ear. The pairs I have owned have either been uncomfortable or too

loose.

WeSC Piston headphonesAt 40, these WeSC Piston headphones seem somewhat of a bargain. Sadly, although their looks will win over fans, audio sounds

muffled whatever the volume.

LifeProof iPhone case

Cracking your iPhone screen is one of the most annoying things you can do. Thankfully, the new LifeProof iPhone case will make

this a thing of the past.

Turtle Beach Ear Force PX22 gaming headphones

Gaming headsets can be costly. And at 69.99, the Ear Force PX22 comes in at the cheaper end of the spectrum. Thankfully, its

sound still packs a solid punch.

Jawbone UP band: Sleeping, eating and moving has never been so interesting


16/16

The UP wristband by Jawbone promises a lot. It takes a 'holistic approach to a healthy lifestyle' to 'keep you moving forward'. It

tracks sleep, food and movement.

Big Jambox speakers

MailOnline reviews wireless speaker systems to find out which one should soundtrack your summer. Best on show was Jawbone's

Big Jambox.

Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd

Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group

Associated Newspapers Ltd

world's first test-tube artificial beef

Documents