The meat "in-vitro" soon produced at full speed

Bell will soon be offering in vitro meat on Swiss plates

Mosa Meat, a world leader in the production of synthetic meat, has just signed an agreement with the meat processing company Bell. The latter, which is one of Europe's leading meat processors, has just acquired a stake in the Dutch start-up Mosa Meat, worth 2 million euros.

Mosa Meat has developed a technique that allows the creation of beef directly in the laboratory from animal cells. No animal flesh is used in the process, only a sample of muscle cells from the animal are needed in the process. By taking a single sample of cells, which are then placed in a nutrient-rich and naturally-occurring growth factor medium, it is possible to produce 800 million horsehairs, which correspond to 9000 kilos of meat.

The cultivated meat is identical to the meat obtained in the traditional way, so, " the difference between beef, pork and chicken can not be distinguished under the microscope", explain Bell and Mosa Meat in a joint statement. The biological process is identical to that of traditional livestock production, but the cells grow outside the body of the animal.

The muscle cells taken from the animal, after having multiplied in the natural solution, are then placed in a gel consisting of 99% water, which will cause a natural contraction of the cells and will allow them to gain weight. Finally, a sample of beef produces 800 million muscle bundles, " the amount needed for the production of 80,000 Big Macs ," explains Mosa Meat.

The Dutch start-up recalls that this process In vitro meat does not include any genetic modification: " the cells do only what they would do in the animal in a natural way ". Mosa Meat created the first artificial burger in 2013 thanks to this technique. The process, to produce a steak of 150 grams, had then cost 290,000 and was funded by Sergei Brin, co-founder of Google.

Since then, Mosa Meat has been able to review its production costs down, and the company hopes to be able to propose an artificial burger for $ 11 by 2021. Based on the report of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Bell and Mosa Meat explain that global demand for meat will jumped by more than 70% in 2050. " This growth can no longer be covered in a sustainable way only with current production methods ", says Bell, adding that we must offer an alternative "[19459007 "to consumers

According to a European researcher quoted by the Washington Post, this type of production offers a considerable environmental advantage:" if all the meat produced at u was grown in vitro, greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by 80% and water use by 90% . "

The in vitro meat market attracts Many investors: Bill Gates, Richard Branson and others have invested $ 17 million in the American company Memphis Meat, which produces meatballs.