CELL CULTIVATED MEAT
WHY IN NEWS ?
- Recently on June 21, two California based companies were cleared to make and sell cell cultivated chicken, the ‘official’ name of chicken meat that is grown in a laboratory for human consumption.
WHAT IS CELL-CULTIVATED CHICKEN ?
- To make cell cultivated meat, the two companies isolate the cells that make up the meat (the meat that we consume), and put them in a setting where they have all the resources they need to grow and make more copies of themselves.
- These resources are typically nutrients, fats, carbohydrates, amino acids, the right temperature, etc.
- The ‘setting’ in which this process transpires is often a bioreactor (also known as a ‘cultivator’).
- Once there are enough of these cells, which takes around two to three weeks in Upside’s process, they resemble a mass of minced meat.
- They are collected and processed with additives to improve texture.
BENEFITS OF CELL CULTIVATED MEAT :
- Its proponents have advanced the following arguments, among others — emissions, land use, prevention of animal cruelty, and food security.
- The first two are related to climate mitigation.
- The FAO has estimated that global livestock is responsible for 14.5% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
- Of this, the production of beef as a commodity accounted for 41% whereas chicken meat and eggs accounted for 8%.
- Similarly, the 2021 report estimated that lab cultivated meat would use 63% less land in the case of chicken.
CHALLENGES IN CELL MEAT CULTIVATION :
There are broadly four kinds of challenges.
- First is consumer acceptance. Perfectly substituting animal meat with alternative meat requires it to match the original in taste, texture and appearance.
- Second, the cost of cell cultivated meat is expected to remain high in the near future.
- One 2020 analysis concluded that it may never be costcompetitive, while reports have also expressed concerns about the costs imposed by quality control, especially at scale.
- Third, for cultivation, researchers require high quality cells, a suitable growth medium in which the cells can be cultured, plus other resources required to maintain the quality of the final product.
SYLLABUS: PRELIMS, CURRENT AFFAIRS