3D Printed Mammoth Steaks?!

Modern Meadow, a 3D bioprinting startup, is developing a method of 3D printing "meat and leather" ultimately for human consumption. They combine advances in biotech with 3D printing to eliminate the need for real animal food production, which is hugely energy intensive.

Recently Modern Meadow's Andras Forgacs performed a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything). The discussion is fascinating and detailed. Here are the key points we noticed:

We are currently growing muscle cells in roller bottles (suitable for anchorage dependent cells) and cell culture medium. Then we separate out the cells from the medium (via centrifuging) and assemble 3D tissues using bioassembly techniques such as bioprinting. 

There are people working on "de-extinction", namely reconstructing the genomes of extinct passenger pigeons, mammoths, etc. Check out:http://tedxdeextinction.org. We have discussed the idea of growing leather from extinct (or rare or endangered) species. The idea of doing the same with meat is also possible. Mammoth steaks anyone?

Read More at Fabbaloo

Image Courtesy of Wikipedia