Googleburger anyone??

[jollyjacktar]

I'd eat one myself. 

Photos and videos at story link below.  Shared under Sec 29 of the Copyright Act.

'At least it tastes of meat!': World's first test-tube artificial beef 'Googleburger' gets GOOD review as it's eaten for the first time

    The 142g patty cost £250,000 to make and consists of meat grown in a lab
    Total of 20,000 strips of meat were grown in petri dishes in the Netherlands
    The artificial meat was electrically stimulated to bulk up the 'muscle' and then blended with 200 pieces of lab-grown animal fat
    Red beetroot juice and saffron added to provide authentic beef colouring
    It has also been revealed that one of the burger's financial backers is computer entrepreneur, and Google co-founder, Sergey Brin

By Victoria Woollaston and Rachel Reilly

PUBLISHED: 08:06 GMT, 5 August 2013 | UPDATED: 16:10 GMT, 5 August 2013

A slice of history has been served up in the shape of a burger after two food experts sampled the world’s first test-tube patty, made from lab-grown meat, at a top-secret location in London.

And, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the verdict wasn't too bad - with one taster describing the £250,000 synthetic burger as having a 'perfect consistency' but that it could do with some salt and pepper.

The tasting event also revealed that one of the burger's main financial backers is Google co-founder, Sergey Brin

A slice of history has been served up in the shape of a burger after two food experts sampled the world’s first test-tube patty, made from lab-grown meat, at a top-secret location in London.

And, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the verdict wasn't too bad - with one taster describing the £250,000 synthetic burger as having a 'perfect consistency' but that it could do with some salt and pepper.

The tasting event also revealed that one of the burger's main financial backers is Google co-founder, Sergey Brin

Mr Brin has also invested in Space Adventures - the private space tourism company that is selling £65 million trips to the Moon.

He has also previously worked with film director James Cameron to investigate mining asteroids and has an interest in solving the world’s energy and climate problems.

Mr Brin seems to believe quite confidently that man-made meat will do a great deal to help humanity.

In a video message, he said: 'Sometimes when technology comes along, it has the capability to transform how we view our world.

'I like to look at technology opportunities. When technology seems like it is on the cusp of viability and if it succeeds there, it can be really transformative for the world.'

'There are basically three things that can happen going forward - one is that we can all become vegetarian. I don't think that's really likely.

'The second is we ignore the issues and that leads to continued environmental harm and the third option is we do something new.

'Some people think this is science fiction - it's not real, it's somewhere out there. I actually think that's a good thing.

Professor Post’s team at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands conducted experiments which progressed from mouse meat to pork and finally beef.

Before the burger was cooked, he said: 'What we are going to attempt is important because I hope it will show cultured beef has the answers to major problems that the world faces.

'Our burger is made from muscle cells taken from a cow.

'We haven’t altered them in any way. For it to succeed it has to look, feel and hopefully taste like the real thing.'

The raw ingredients are 0.02in (0.5mm) thick strips of pinkish yellow lab-grown tissue.

Professor Post was confident he could produce a burger that was almost indistinguishable from one made from a slaughtered animal.

And perhaps he wasn't far off. After taking a mouthful, taster Ms Ruetzler said: 'I was expecting the texture to be more soft... I know there is no fat in it so I didn't know how juicy it would be.

'It's close to meat. It's not that juicy. The consistency is perfect (but) I miss salt and pepper!'

Professor Post pointed out that livestock farming is becoming unsustainable, with demand for meat rocketing around the world.

Unveiling the research last year at a science meeting in Vancouver, Canada, he said: 'Meat demand is going to double in the next 40 years. Right now we are using 70% of all our agricultural capacity to grow meat through livestock.

'You can easily calculate that we need alternatives.'

The 'artificial' meat is produced using a complex process - in effect turning a mere dish of stem cells into a burger that can be grilled or fried.

First the stem cells are cultivated in a nutrient broth, allowing them to proliferate 30-fold.

Next they are combined with an elastic collagen and attached to Velcro 'anchor points' in a culture dish. Between the anchor points, the cells 'self-organise' into chunks of muscle.

Electrical stimulation is then used to make the muscle strips contract and 'bulk up' - the laboratory equivalent of working out in a gym.

Finally the thousands of beef strips are minced up, together with 200 pieces of lab-grown animal fat, and moulded into a patty. Around 20,000 meat strands are needed to make one 5oz (142g) burger.

Other non-meat ingredients include salt, egg powder, and breadcrumbs. Red beetroot juice and saffron are added to provide authentic beef colouring.

A major advantage of test-tube meat is that it can be customised for health, for instance by boosting levels of polyunsaturated fats, said Professor Post.

Before the taste demonstration Professor Post was asked if he would feed lab-grown beef to his children.

He said: 'I ate it myself a couple of times without any hesitation whatsoever.

'Now a couple of people are going to taste it and my kids are jealous. I'd be very comfortable for them to taste it.'

Manufacturing steaks instead of minced meat presents a much greater technical challenge, requiring some kind of blood vessel system to carry nutrients and oxygen to the centre of the tissue, he added. Making artificial chicken or fish from stem cells might be easier.

Dr Neil Stephens, a sociologist based at Cardiff University who has studied test tube meat, told AFP that the project was an attempt to spark a debate about an issue that many in the field believe is still not taken seriously enough.

He said that the developers want to demonstrate to the world that in-vitro meat is viable, and that it's something to be taken seriously.

'What will be interesting is, in the coming weeks, watching the response to see how many people are convinced by the technology,' he added.

The animal welfare organisation Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has welcomed the research.

A spokesman said: 'One day you will be able to eat meat with ethical impunity. In-vitro technology will spell the end of lorries full of cows and chickens, abattoirs and factory farming. It will reduce carbon emissions, conserve water and make the food supply safer.

'Lab-grown meat will provide people who were addicted from childhood to the saturated fat in flesh with the ‘methadone’ for their habit.'

The Food Standards Agency said: 'As the competent authority for novel foods in the UK, the Food Standards Agency is closely following emerging technologies and developments concerning novel protein sources as food.

'In-vitro' or cultured meat is not yet commercially viable, but the technology used to produce cultured meat could be advanced enough for trials to take place.

'Any novel food, or food produced using a novel production process, must undergo a stringent and independent safety assessment before it is placed on the market.

'Anyone seeking approval of an in-vitro meat product would have to provide a dossier of evidence to show that the product is safe, nutritionally equivalent to existing meat products, and will not mislead the consumer.

'This would be evaluated under the EU regulation for novel foods, prior to a decision on authorisation. There have been no such applications to date.'

The man-made patty (pictured) was fried in a pan and sampled by two volunteers - US-based food author Josh Schonwald and Austrian food researcher Hanni Ruetzler. Ms Ruetzler said that it had the 'perfect consistency'

Appetising? The meat had red beetroot juice and saffron added to provide an authentic beef colouring. Despite these ingredients, taster Ms Ruetzler said it could have done with some salt and pepper

WHO IS SERGEY BRIN?
Google co-founder Sergey Brin stands on stage during a bill signing by California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., for driverless cars at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

It has just been revealed that Sergey Brin is one of the financial backers of the test-tube burger.

Mr Brin is an American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur who, with Larry Page, co-founded Google.

Together with Page, he owns 16 per cent of the internet search giant.

His personal wealth is estimated to be £13.2bn in 2012.

He and Page previously invested in a large offshore wind farm in 2010 and a self-driving car in a bid to reduce road accidents via Google's philanthropic arm.

It is believed that Mr Brin invested £215,000 in the creation of the burger.

Mr Brin has also invested in Space Adventures - the private space tourism company that is selling £65 million trips to the Moon.

He has also previously worked with film director James Cameron to investigate mining asteroids and has an interest in solving the world’s energy and climate problems.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2384715/At-tastes-meat--Worlds-test-tube-artificial-beef-Googleburger-gets-GOOD-review-eaten-time.html#ixzz2b70OUIZz
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[Michael OLeary]

Let me know when they combine this with 3-D printing technology. Although the cost of the "ink" may be outrageous.

 

[jollyjacktar]

Let me know when they combine this with 3-D printing technology. Although the cost of the "ink" may be outrageous.

Couldn't be any worse than this baby at $398,274.88

 

[Teager]

I wonder how farmers feel about this? I'm sure theres enough people that would prefer real meat vs lab. I can see the conspiracy theorist coming and saying "Meat growing in a lab well you know the government puts stuff in it to control your mind."  >

 

[cjette1]

I was watching BBC this morning and the host said verbatim "this patty was created by cells from a dead cow". Those words are all I remember from the whole excerpt. Nothing say's appetizing like dead cow cells. What's next?

 

[George Wallace]

I was watching BBC this morning and the host said verbatim "this patty was created by cells from a dead cow". Those words are all I remember from the whole excerpt. Nothing say's appetizing like dead cow cells. What's next?

Guess you're Vegan.  All meat comes from dead animals.  I don't think I would find a burger that was writhing on the grille that appetizing.  Kinda creepy, maybe.

 

[George Wallace]

On a similar topic; how many of you have seen how they make Hotdogs?  I am sure if you did, you probably wouldn't want to eat them either; or any of our processed meats.

 

[The Bread Guy]

.... Nothing say's appetizing like dead cow cells. ....

Even if you like your steak rare, what do you think steak is?  The cells there certainly aren't living.

Or are you more of a dead chicken cell or dead fish cell eater? 

 

[cupper]

Now all they have to do is come up with a way to grow french fries in the lab. >

 

[cjette1]

Guess you're Vegan.  All meat comes from dead animals.  I don't think I would find a burger that was writhing on the grille that appetizing.  Kinda creepy, maybe.

I'm a straight rare steak eater myself. I just found his choice of words interesting. We've already got lab grown burgers, whose to say grilled burgers that move aren't next? One day, my meat better crawl into my bun itself!

 

[Kat Stevens]

As soon as it can crawl, PETA will want to free it and give it the right to vote.

 

[cphansen]

On a similar topic; how many of you have seen how they make Hotdogs?  I am sure if you did, you probably wouldn't want to eat them either; or any of our processed meats.

Actually George, I have seen how hot dogs are made and the thing that struck me most about it was the last time I had seen some of the machines, they were 1000 meters unground crushing rocks in an uraninum mine.  They were being used to crush frozen blocks of meat.  Another thing I noticed was out of every 24 hours, a full eight hour shift was used every day to steam clean the machinery and environment until it looked clean enough to eat off.  Of course that doesn't mean it was as you can see from some of the recalls for tainted meat.

Now if you really want to be amazed. you should look at some of the ingredients tat go into making boneless hams.

 

[STJ_Kierstead]

heck, how mcdonalds makes its chicken nuggets might drop your jaw  :facepalm:

on topic, i cant see the day where these are sold as the norm in local pubs and burger joints.  I do however see the benefit of using our cattle for other purpose than just slotter. I heard the statistic on number of cows/pigs/chickens slain annually and the numbers were astronomic!

 

[a_majoor]

While pretty amazing from a technical standpoint, I have to admit I'm a bit dubious about the supposed environmental impact of growing meat in a lab vs raising it on the range or in a feed lot. Regardless of how it's done, growing cells will require energy (in the lab this may be arranged by pumping glucose into the vat), which has to come from somewhere. Even if there is a process that converts electrical energy directly into steak, that means that someone is burning coal or natural gas IOT power the conversion process.

As well, cattle and animals in general are part of the ecosystem, and as we can read on the  Armyrick's Land Healing Farm thread, they can work with the land in order to preserve and enhance the local ecosystems.

This will have specialized applications (growing meat in the ISS might make the crew very happy, for example), and variations of this technique (with or without 3D printing technology) has been under investigation for medical use, for example growing muscle tissue or a new heart or liver for transplant recipients from their own cells.

We live in pretty amazing times.

 

[George Wallace]

While pretty amazing from a technical standpoint, I have to admit I'm a bit dubious about the supposed environmental impact of growing meat in a lab vs raising it on the range or in a feed lot. Regardless of how it's done, growing cells will require energy (in the lab this may be arranged by pumping glucose into the vat), which has to come from somewhere.

Do you eat cheese?


Is that process not unlike what happens in a lab?

 

[a_majoor]

That is probably a good analogy, the microorganisms in the vat are converting the chemical energy stored in the milk into cheese (or youghert if you do it differently). OF course milk is a pretty highly concentrated source of energy, since the cow is converting the solar energy stored in the grass into milk in the first place.

Perhaps a better analogy would be beer, since the yeast is feasting directly on vegetable matter (boiled barley, hops and malt); no need to stick a cow into the process ;D