ISS scientists create first 3D bioprinted meat in space
In an out-of-this-world first, Aleph Farms, an Israeli food-tech startup, has successfully produced lab-grown meat in space. The company managed to grow cultivated beef patties about the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS), 339 km (248 miles) above the nearest natural resources.
The Aleph team produced the meat using a technique known as 3D bioprinting - a form of 3D printing that utilises biological cells. The printer fixes the cells into small, scaffold-like muscle tissue using a magnetic force. The end result is meat that it essentially indistinguishable from the real thing. The tissue used is very small - 1.5 millimetres in diameter - but the successful experiment marks an important conceptual point - that the meat of the future can be grown in difficult conditions, like those in the ISS' microgravity environment.
3D bioprinted meat using only a fraction of the resources - space, water and nutrients - of livestock and it involves no slaughter and is therefore cruelty-free. Aleph says that this experiment could pave the way for the establishment of a meat farm in Earth's orbit. Growing meat in these conditions would allow for meat production without the use of land, and without contributing to global CO2 emissions.
A statement from Aleph Farms CEO and co-founder Didier Toubia said: "In space, we don’t have 10,000 or 15,000 litres of water available to produce one Kg of beef. This joint experiment marks a significant first step toward achieving our vision to ensure food security for generations to come, while preserving our natural resources. This keystone of human achievement in space follows Yuri Gagarin’s success of becoming the first man to journey into outer space, and Neil Armstrong’s 50th anniversary this year, celebrating the moment when the first man walked on space."
As well as being an interesting and impressive feat in itself, the ISS experiment could help raise awareness of technology that could have a large impact in the not so distant future.
While studies have shown that a large reduction in overall global meat consumption is an important part of cutting down greenhouse gases. Despite this, the world is eating more meat than ever.
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