Science in Our Food

Genetic engineering has been a controversial topic for quite some times. This debate covers the grounds of both human and animals. Emily Anthes, in her book Frankenstein’s Cat, talks about a variety of topics that involve genetic engineering from the GloFish that may occupy some of our homes to the goats whose milk contains antithrombin, a medicine for humans. Genetic engineering has allowed for us humans to exploit animals further for our needs than ever before.


However, advances in technology has allowed for the production of “schmeat” as its progenitor, Mark Post, a professor of physiology and biomedical technology at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands has termed it. What is “schmeat?” “Schmeat” is cultured beef. Catherine Mayer explains it as “product of stem cells harvested from a cow’s shoulder and laboratory-nurtured into strips of muscle” in her article “Meet ‘Schmeat’: Say Hello to the Stem-Cell Hamburger” for Time. Essentially, what is done is that stem cells in harvested from a cow’s shoulder and and stimulated to grow as muscle fibers and aided with growth medium, which contains nutrients and acids.

This would not be the first time genetic engineers have experimented on a meat source. As mention by Anthes, “the infamous case of the ‘Beltsville pig’”, a pig who was transferred the gene that produced HGH. This resulted in a pig that suffered from a variety of different afflictions. This is the first time, however, that meat has been grown in vitro in a lab. The process of developing the perfect meat has been an ongoing problem. This problem of the meat falling short of the current meal standard has been called “technical bottleneck.” The solution requires that the correct fat cells be cultivated into the meat. Much like how DNA was inserted into the the “Beltsville pig”, a similar process must be done to promote the growth of fat cells in the meat.

This however has some fallback that was mentioned by Anthes and Mayer called the "ick" factor. The "ick" factor is the reaction from the public to something that they are not use to. If people are not receptive to the idea of cultivating meat in laboratories, then this whole project will be nothing but a "science experiment." However, this could be a revolutionary breakthrough. This relieve some of the dependence that we have on animals and allow for humans to survive without harming other species. This whole initiative has been backed by several high profile philanthropists such as PETA, who offered a million dollars to any lab that could cultivate a beef that could be mass produced. Another such person was the co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin. Through continued research, we can produce meats that match what we can find currently at the grocery store for the price. Through advances in our technologies, we can make even more things possible.

References:
Anthes, Emily. "Got Milk?" Frankenstein's Cat: Cuddling up to Biotech's Brave New Beasts. New York: Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013. 33-55. Print.
Mayer, Catherine. "Meet ‘Schmeat’: Say Hello to the Stem-Cell Hamburger." Time. Time.com, 05 Aug. 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.