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Lab grown meat to tickle astronauts` palate
Washington, Jan 03: In an attempt to offer a change to the palate of astronauts, scientist at NASA are experimenting with flesh grown in a petri dish for human consumption.
Washington, Jan 03: In an attempt to offer a change to the palate of astronauts, scientist at NASA are experimenting with flesh grown in a petri dish for human consumption.
Tissue engineers are experimenting with ways of growing meat in a laboratory with the aim of developing food for astronauts on long space journeys, such as a mission to Mars.
A NASA-funded team led by Morris Benjaminson, at Touro College in New York City, has started the process, removing muscle tissue from freshly killed goldfish and raising it in cell-culture fluid for a week, says a report in Sydney Morning Herald.
Benjaminson said the tissue grew by up to 14 per cent, thanks to partially differentiated "myoblast" cells in the adult muscle dividing. But growing larger pieces of muscle tissue will be tricky because a constant supply of nutrients is needed. In tissue fed by blood, capillaries must be no more than 200 microns apart or the tissue dies.
Meanwhile, researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina think the meat of the future will be processed food closer to sausage or hamburger. In a detailed project proposal to NASA, head researcher Vladimir Mironov sets out how to grow cells on protein spheres. These could be harvested and made into nuggets or patties.
His starting cells will be myoblasts, which live at the edges of muscle fibres and help repair muscles. His dream is to eventually grow and cook fresh sausage overnight in a machine like a home bread maker. Bureau Report
Tissue engineers are experimenting with ways of growing meat in a laboratory with the aim of developing food for astronauts on long space journeys, such as a mission to Mars.
A NASA-funded team led by Morris Benjaminson, at Touro College in New York City, has started the process, removing muscle tissue from freshly killed goldfish and raising it in cell-culture fluid for a week, says a report in Sydney Morning Herald.
Benjaminson said the tissue grew by up to 14 per cent, thanks to partially differentiated "myoblast" cells in the adult muscle dividing. But growing larger pieces of muscle tissue will be tricky because a constant supply of nutrients is needed. In tissue fed by blood, capillaries must be no more than 200 microns apart or the tissue dies.
Meanwhile, researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina think the meat of the future will be processed food closer to sausage or hamburger. In a detailed project proposal to NASA, head researcher Vladimir Mironov sets out how to grow cells on protein spheres. These could be harvested and made into nuggets or patties.
His starting cells will be myoblasts, which live at the edges of muscle fibres and help repair muscles. His dream is to eventually grow and cook fresh sausage overnight in a machine like a home bread maker. Bureau Report