SYNTHETIC MATERIALS
One synthetic material is lab meat. It's animal tissue grown without a living host. The meat is made from stem cells.
1) Cells are taken from a cow's muscle.
2) The people mix the stem cells with nutrients in a lab dish where they multiply a lot.
3) The tissue is electrically stimulated to grow into muscle like strips.
4) The new muscle fiber is put through a grinder.
5) Red beet juice and saffron are added for coloring.
6) The meat is then formed and cooked and made into a hamburger.
If we are able to literally grow meat, it will greatly affect the world in the future because it will help feed more people. There's a lot of meat demand right now and growing artificial meat will help to supply people with some. "Experts say new ways of producing meat are needed to satisfy growing carnivorous appetites without exhausting resources. Raising animals destined for the dinner table takes up about 70% of all agricultural land." (Dr. Kurt Schmidinger)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/05/first-reaction-lab-made-burger-lacks-flavor/2618599/
What a great post! I didn't know that the meat had to be electrically shocked in the process. I suppose it makes sense. Our muscles are shocked every time we want to move so I suppose to make meat right would require some electricity.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: would you eat synthetic meat? Why or why not?