First lab-grown burger put to taste test
They bit, they chewed, but had hoped for more flavor.
Two volunteers who participated in the first public frying of hamburger grown in a lab said Monday that it had the texture of meat but was short of flavor because of the lack of fat.
Mark Post, whose team at Maastricht University in the Netherlands developed the burger, hopes that making meat in labs could eventually help feed the world and fight climate change.
Scientists developed the first artificial beef burger grown in a lab using stem cells from a dead cow.
The BBC reported that scientists start with stem cells extracted from cow muscle tissue. Then grow them in a solution of nutrients for about three weeks before putting them into dishes where they combine into small strips of musle. The strips are made into pellets which are eventually made into patties and cooked.
The meat is white in color until beetroot juice is added to make it red, said the BBC.
Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, announced that he funded the $330,000 project because of his concern for animal welfare.
Austrian nutritionist Hanni Ruetzler, one of the testers, says it was "close to meat" but "not that juicy." U.S. journalist Josh Schonwald made similar comments.
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