It seems crazy that only 50 years ago, Apollo 11 was the first spaceflight that landed humans on the Moon. Now, we have an International Space Station, 248 miles away, dedicated to exploring and understanding the dark space. As one can imagine, it’s a little far away from a drive-through. So when Aleph Farms, in partnership with 3D Bioprinting Solutions (Russia), Meal Source Technologies (USA), and Finless Foods (USA) announced that they successfully completed the first slaughter-free meat experiment in space, it was a pretty big deal.
“In space, we don’t have 10,000 or 15,000 Liter (3962.58 Gallon) of water available to produce one Kg (2.205 Pound) of beef,” said Didier Toubia, Co-Founder and CEO. “This joint experiment marks a significant first step toward achieving our vision to ensure food security for generations to come, while preserving our natural resources. This keystone of human achievement in space follows Yuri Gagarin’s success of becoming the first man to journey into outer space, and Neil Armstrong’s 50th anniversary this year, celebrating the moment when the first man walked on space."
According to the press release, Aleph Farms, co-founded with the food-tech incubator The Kitchen, and Professor Shulamit Levenberg of the Technion University, is making significant progress toward enabling unconditional access to safe and nutritious meat anytime, anywhere, while using minimal resources. The production method of cultivated beef steaks relies on mimicking a natural process of muscle-tissue regeneration occurring inside the cow’s body, but under controlled conditions. A 3D bioprinter was used under microgravity conditions, serving as an essential growth indicator of sustainable food production methods that don’t exacerbate land waste, water waste, and pollution. These methods are aimed at feeding the rapidly growing population, predicted to reach 10 billion individuals by 2050.
“The mission of providing access to high-quality nutrition anytime, anywhere in a sustainable way is an increasing challenge for all humans,” added Jonathan Berger, CEO of The Kitchen. “On Earth or up above, we count on innovators like Aleph Farms to take the initiative to provide solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems, such as the climate crisis.”
The phrase “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,” famously said by Neal Armstrong, couldn’t be more apt. And if the knowledge gained from this successful experiment isn’t more utilized, then it would be a big mis-steak. As more innovative ideas come to light, Deli Market News will continue to report.