Let’s learn about lab-grown meat

If you eat meat, you may have enjoyed gobbling up turkey on Thanksgiving. If you’re a vegetarian, you might have gone for Tofurky. (That tofu-based dish has been made to look and taste like the traditional holiday bird.) But one day, such plant-based options may not be the only animal substitutes on your menu. Scientists are working out how to create meat from scratch in the lab. No animals would lose their lives in the production of these lab-grown steaks, nuggets or patties.

Lab-made hamburger, for instance, can be grown from a cow’s stem cells. These cells have the ability to turn into different types. Scientists have coaxed some to grow into thousands of muscle-cell strips that together resemble ground beef.

Some lab-meat techniques resemble making cotton candy; they use machines to spin wispy fibers of gelatin. This gives harvested cells more structure and generates a tougher, more steak-like texture. Alternatively, some 3-D printers use cell-based inks to produce juicy steaks, seemingly out of thin air.

Upside Foods already sells lab-grown chicken. This company, based in Berkeley, Calif., produces only the bits of chicken that people eat. They don’t make organs such as bones and lungs, for instance, that would be discarded. Good Meat is the only other company that sells human-made chicken in the United States.

Lab-grown meat has a few big benefits over farmed fare. It not only doesn’t harm animals, but its production could make fewer greenhouse gases and food wastes. Such farm alternatives also could offer a good source of protein and stay fresh longer for astronauts in space.

Still, some state governments have banned lab-grown meat. Lawmakers want better safety rules in place before many people start using these products.

It will likely be several years before you can find lab-grown steaks — much less Thanksgiving turkeys — in your local grocery. It costs too much money to make these still-experimental products in large quantities. In the meantime, munching on insects — such as meat-scented mealworms and crunchy crickets — may be a more suitable meat option. They are packed with protein, easy to raise and surprisingly delicious.

Want to know more? We’ve got some stories to get you started:

A new spin on lab-grown meat Spinning gelatin into fibers helps give cow stem cells the structure they need to grow into a thick juicy lab grown steak. (12/3/2019) Readability: 7.3

Let’s learn about eating bugs Snacking on beetles, caterpillars and worms instead of burgers and nuggets is better for the planet. Learn about the six-legged critters that should creep into your next bite. (11/29/2022) Readability: 6.8

No animal died to make this steak Researchers make a juicy steak with a 3-D printer using living ink. (5/21/2021) Readability: 6.6

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Meat from scratch

New meat-scented food flavoring comes from sugar — and mealworms

Designing tomorrow’s burger

Your food choices affect Earth’s climate

Yummy bugs 

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Can Silicon Valley entrepreneurs make crickets the new chicken? (Science News)

Could a rice-meat hybrid be what’s for dinner? (Science News)

Activities

Word find

Ever wonder how your food impacts the planet? Play around with the blocks in the carbon cafe to learn how the production of foods in your lunchbox releases different amounts of greenhouse gases. Compare, swap and replace the blocks to see how green you can make your next meal.