May 21, 2014

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports Your Universe Online

The same scientific advances that have made it possible to cultivate stem cells into laboratory-grown organs could one day be used to develop eco-friendly meat products, according to new research appearing in the latest edition of the journal Trends in Biotechnology.

According to researchers from Wageningen University in The Netherlands, producing in vitro meat in an animal-cell cultivation process is a technically feasible alternative lacking these disadvantages, provided that an animal-component-free growth medium can be developed. Small-scale production looks particularly promising, not only technologically but also for societal acceptance. Economic feasibility, however, emerges as the real obstacle.

Provided a cost-effective way to develop cultured meat can be discovered, the researchers explain that it would provide a source of meat that is both ethical and greener, limiting pollution and energy consumption while also preventing the suffering experienced by animals as part of the factory farming industry. Ultimately, they hope that every town and community could be home to its own small-scale cultured meat production facility.

We believe that cultured meat is part of the future, explained study author Cor van der Weele. Other parts of the future are partly substituting meat with vegetarian products, keeping fewer animals in better circumstances, perhaps eating insects, etc. This discussion is certainly part of the future in that it is part of the search for a protein transition. It is highly effective in stimulating a growing awareness and discussion of the problems of meat production and consumption.

She and coauthor Johannes Tramper noted that the rising demand levels for meat are unsustainable in terms of environmental pollution and energy usage. Van der Weele explained that she initially learned about cultured meat in 2004, when frog steaks were served by a French museum all while the amphibian that donated the cells for the culinary feast watched on.

Scientists have already proven that meat can be made from stem cells. In 2013, Maastricht University Prof. Mark Post created and consumed a lab-grown burger created using muscle cells taken from a cow. Those cells were cultured in a lab and placed in a nutrient solution to stimulate muscle tissue growth.

The tissue is grown by placing cells in a cylindrical tube around a hub of gel, and then grown into small strands of meat. As many as 20,000 strands are required to create a five-ounce burger, and according to Post, the muscle cells have not been altered in any way. He explained that this beef could potentially provide the answers to major problems that the world faces, but for it to succeed, it needs to feel and hopefully taste like the real thing.

Post and his colleagues began growing pork in laboratory environments in 2006 as part of the In-vitro Meat Consortium, a group publicly funded Dutch research institutions conducting cultured meat-related experiments. Other nations have been pursuing similar research, including a team of US researchers who were funded by NASA and set out to find a way to allow astronauts to grow their own meat in space.

See the article here:
In Vitro Techniques Could Produce Environmentally Friendly Meat Products

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

20-May-2014

Contact: Mary Beth O'Leary moleary@cell.com 617-397-2802 Cell Press

The scientific progress that has made it possible to dream of a future in which faulty organs could be regrown from stem cells also holds potential as an ethical and greener source for meat. So say scientists who suggest in the Cell Press journal Trends in Biotechnology that every town or village could one day have its very own small-scale, cultured meat factory.

"We believe that cultured meat is part of the future," said Cor van der Weele of Wageningen University in The Netherlands. "Other parts of the future are partly substituting meat with vegetarian products, keeping fewer animals in better circumstances, perhaps eating insects, etc. This discussion is certainly part of the future in that it is part of the search for a 'protein transition.' It is highly effective in stimulating a growing awareness and discussion of the problems of meat production and consumption."

van der Weele and coauthor Johannes Tramper point out that the rising demand for meat around the world is unsustainable in terms of environmental pollution and energy consumption, not to mention the animal suffering associated with factory farming.

van der Weele said she first heard about cultured meat in 2004, when frog steaks were served at a French museum while the donor frog watched on (http://tcaproject.org/projects/victimless/cuisine). Tramper has studied the cultivation of animal cellsinsect cells mostlyin the lab for almost 30 years. In 2007, he published a paper suggesting that insect cells might be useful as a food source.

It is already possible to make meat from stem cells. To prove it, Mark Post, a professor of tissue engineering at Maastricht University, The Netherlands, presented the first lab-grown hamburger in 2013.

In the new Science & Society paper, van der Weele and Tramper outline a potential meat manufacturing process, starting with a vial of cells taken from a cell bank and ending with a pressed cake of minced meat. But there will be challenges when it comes to maintaining a continuous stem cell line and producing cultured meat that's cheaper than meat obtained in the usual way. Most likely, the price of "normal" meat would first have to rise considerably.

Still, the promise is too great to ignore.

Continued here:
Stem cells as a future source for eco-friendly meat

Category: Science & Technology Posted: May 20, 2014 06:43AM Author: Guest_Jim_*

Stem cells are a very interesting and potentially important field for the future of medicine, as these cells can become the basis for any cell in our bodies. While embryonic stem cells, which are very early in development show perhaps the most promise, researchers have discovered that adult cells can be reprogrammed to be pluripotent, like the younger cells. Now researchers at the Center of Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona have discovered a means to improve the efficiency of reprogramming adult cells.

The exact process to create induced pluripotent stem cells from adult cells is not well understood currently, but many are working to reveal its secrets. The researchers at CRG found that the Wnt route appears to influence the process; the pathway frogs and lizards use to regenerate lost limbs. Even though humans lost the regenerative abilities the Wnt route offers, it is still present in us and plays a role in embryonic development and cell fusion. The researchers discovered that if it is inhibited at the beginning of the process to create the iPS cells and activated at the proper time at the end, the process will be more efficient and create more of the cells.

While the potential for iPS cells is definitely an important application for this research, it can also lead to advancements in other, Wnt route related areas. These include regenerative medicine and tumors that involve the Wnt pathway.

Source: Center for Genomic Regulation

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Towards Reprogramming Adult Cells