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Aleph Farms serves up world's first lab-grown steak

Aleph Farms serves up world's first lab-grown steak
The world's first lab-grown steak takes about three weeks to grow from an initial cellular sample
The world's first lab-grown steak takes about three weeks to grow from an initial cellular sample
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Aleph Farms' lab-grown minute steak was cooked up by Israeli chef Amir Ilan
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Aleph Farms' lab-grown minute steak was cooked up by Israeli chef Amir Ilan
The world's first lab-grown steak takes about three weeks to grow from an initial cellular sample
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The world's first lab-grown steak takes about three weeks to grow from an initial cellular sample

Israel-based startup Aleph Farms has just unveiled the world's first lab-grown steak. This milestone on the road to bringing a cruelty-free meat product to the market demonstrates, for the first time, the technology's ability to imitate the flavor, shape, texture and structure of a classic beef steak.

Back in 2013, the first lab-grown burger was revealed to the general public. At the time the burger cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it was seen as a priceless proof of concept for producing beef without the environmental or ethical costs generally associated with meat production. However, it's one thing to create a beef mince-like protein in laboratory conditions, but growing something that resembles a conventional steak is another challenge altogether.

"Making a patty or a sausage from cells cultured outside the animal is challenging enough, imagine how difficult it is to create a whole-muscle steak," explains Aleph Farms CEO, Didier Toubia.

Aleph Farms' lab-grown minute steak was cooked up by Israeli chef Amir Ilan
Aleph Farms' lab-grown minute steak was cooked up by Israeli chef Amir Ilan

Lab-grown meat (aka cell-grown meat, or clean meat) generally involves extracting muscle tissue samples from a live animal and then stimulating those cells to replicate in laboratory conditions. A large assortment of start-ups are racing to be the first to commercialize this technology and estimates on when it will finally reach market shelves vary from three to 10 years depending on how quickly cost-effective large-scale production can be developed.

Aleph's demonstration of the first lab-grown steak is an exciting advance in cell-cultured meat technology. The company claims the steak takes about three weeks to grow from an initial cellular sample into the steak we see cooked by Israeli chef Amir Ilan in the video below.

Aleph Farms

"Aleph Farms' minute steak is thinly sliced and will cook in just a minute or so," says Ilan, discussing his experience using the meat. "For me, it is a great experience to eat meat that has the look and feel of beef but has been grown without antibiotics and causes no harm to animals or the environment."

Lab-grown meat hitting the market is clearly a case of when and not if, as the technology continues to race forward in both sophistication and efficiency. Traditional meat-producers went on the offensive earlier in 2018, beginning political plays to stop these new products using the term "meat." After some early initial wins it seems like the nascent lab-grown meat industry will face more than just technological hurdles in getting its product to the market over the coming years.

Source: Aleph Farms

6 comments
6 comments
rude.dawg
"Would you like lab-grown fries with that?"
guzmanchinky
This needs to be fast tracked and backed by governments NOW. It is one of the quickest ways we can reduce CO2 and methane.
Douglas Bennett Rogers
This could be very valuable for space, as mass is a much bigger cost relative to production.
Don Duncan
Nothing is a better energy collector/converter than grass. Ruminates are extremely efficient at converting the plant energy to meat. Given the new enlightened rotational grazing science, no grain, no added fertilizer, no pesticides, no herbicides, and no antibiotics are needed. It's cheaper, enhances the soil fertility and requires much less water.
The animals enjoy their lives. They have only "one bad moment".
ljaques
One Aleph Burger and an order of Vat Fries, please.
This needs to be fast-tracked and backed by Guzmanchinky NOW! No tax dollars were harmed in the production of this vmeat.
John Gochnauer
"Cruelty-free"? As if stunning an inferior being before slaughter in order to eliminate the sensation of pain is somehow "cruel"?