With the human population growing at such a rapid rate, scarcity of resources has become a huge problem. Panic ensues as people begin to wonder when our food resources will become inadequate, our unsustainable resources are fully depleted and our survival is entirely dependent on instinct. Before this grim reality can be realized, the scientific community may have found a potential solution to a dwindling food source. Tests done in a Dutch lab have used stem cells to create artificial muscle tissue, which in turn could yield a synthetic burger. Meat from farm animals may no longer be necessary to bolster our food source.
According to an article published by the BBC on Sunday, Professor Mark Post and his team at Maastricht University in the Netherlands said small strips of muscle will soon be combined with blood and artificial fat to create a burger. However, the cost of creating one is estimated at £200,000, or $317,240. Obviously once the technology is harnessed and used extensively, production costs will decrease, allowing for the product to become integrated into the present food market. If the burger is successfully made this fall, it will signify a major turning point for food production and the future of agricultural production.
Obviously, artificially creating products that are currently made from actual animals could pose some health risks. In order to keep the artificial meat edible, large quantities of chemicals would have to be injected as preservatives. The prospect of growing meat in a lab may seem wise to supply the world’s population as it grows ever larger, but hopefully it will only be reserved as a last resort. Our existing system of rearing animals has been in place for centuries; while farming methods may not always be the most humane, at least we could usually guarantee freshness and nutrition. This new technology is still in its infancy, so it will be a few years before we see artificial meat evolve into a complete product. Hopefully scientists will proceed with caution when trying to replicate nature using laboratory equipment.
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