A couple of years ago, scientists successfully grew beef in a
laboratory. Now a group of reaseachers in Israel is poised to do the same with chicken. Tel Aviv
University bioengineer Professor Amit Gefen has started "a
year-long feasibility study into manufacturing chicken in a lab,
funded by a non-profit group called the Modern Agriculture
Foundation which hopes "cultured meat" will one day replace the
raising of animals for slaughter."
The goal is to create "a recipe for how to culture chicken
cells" by the end of the year. Although a lab in the Netherlands
has already grown hamburger from cells, researchers here plan to up
the ante by creating a whole piece of chicken starting from a
single cell.
Animal rights activists and environmentalists support such
research. They are bolstered by a study conducted by Oxford
University and the University of Amsterdam that predicts "cultured
meat would produce 96 percent less greenhouse gas, consume 82 to 96
percent less water and virtually eliminate land requirements needed
to raise livestock."
Skeptics have dubbed this type of meat "Frankenfood." Taste
tests of the lab grown burger indicate that the process has a long
way to go to meet quality demands as evidenced by the Roast chicken with caramelized shallots by
David Lebovitz, pictured at top. What do you think about lab grown
meat?