Where’s the Beef? Scientists Turn Stem Cells into PETA-Approved Meat [VIDEO]

Hamburger meat could be grown in a test tube as soon October. In a bid to protect the environment, Dutch scientists are exploring lab-grown meat options.

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Fake meat might sound gross, but scientists say an alternative meat is essential. Raising cattle takes an enormous amount of water, feed and energy. All in all, about 100 pounds of resources is required to obtain 15 pounds of usable meat. Artificial meat could improve that efficiency by at least 35 percent.

Mark Post, chairman of physiology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, is conducting the $330,000 experiment, funded by an anonymous donor. He has begun transforming stem cells from a herd of cattle into inch-long strips of muscle tissue. The meat strips can be mashed together to create a hamburger patty. The color of the meat is wavers between whitish pink or pinkish yellow.

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The research has support from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which is also urging scientists to create stem-cell chicken by the end of June for a $1 million prize. PETA's competition started four years ago. Like the red meat, the chicken would edible. PETA says it supports eating meat as long as the animal isn't killed or inhumanely treated.

Post did not offer any information about the healthy benefits from the artificial meat and we don't know whether the meat tastes the same as regular meat. We do know that with less real meat going around, E. coli and other food borne illnesses would be reduced.

Would you consider eating artificial meat hamburgers? Tell us in the comments below.

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Flickr, Passive Income Dream.com

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Where's the Beef? Scientists Turn Stem Cells into PETA-Approved Meat [VIDEO]