[Answered] FDA has recently approved lab-grown meat for human consumption in the US. How is lab-grown meat developed, and how is it different from real meat?

70 billion land animals, and possibly trillions of marine animals, are killed for human consumption each year. Recently, the US Food & Drug Administration has for the first time given the green light to meat grown from cells. Singapore is the only country so far to have approved the sale of cultivated meat products.

How is lab-grown meat developed?

• The process of making lab-grown meat starts with the careful removal of a small number of muscle cells from a living animal or from the ovaries of a newly slaughtered animal.
• Then, a lab technician places the harvested cells in bioreactors before adding serum containing amino acids, sugars and other nutrients needed for cells to grow.
• The cells grow and multiply, producing real muscle tissue, which scientists then shape into edible scaffoldings.
• Using these scaffoldings, they can transform lab-grown cells into steak, chicken nuggets, hamburger patties, or salmon sashimi. The final product is a real cut of meat.

Difference from real meat:

• Lab-grown comes from cells harvested from a living animal, while conventional meat comes from an animal that’s raised and killed for human consumption.
• It often does not contain the same growth hormones and saturated fats associated with conventional meat.
• Due to its high cholesterol and saturated fat content, meat consumption can lead to chronic disease. When growing meat in a lab, food scientists can actually control the quantities of harmful cholesterol and saturated fat in each cut.
• Lab-grown meat can also address the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. Factory farms administer high amounts of antibiotics to animals in order to keep them alive in filthy conditions.
• While it doesn’t contain harmful antibiotics of traditional meat, lab-grown meat does contain the same amount of protein that is crucial to the health and proper functioning of our bodies.

Considering the amount of meat consumed globally, companies will need to invest in a lot of land and resources to be able to cater to the mammoth task of feeding all non-vegetarians.  Cultured or lab-grown meat is a solution to save the planet from climate change and improve the health of people across the world.