As meat consumption grows around the world, food scientists are working to develop healthier, better-tasting, and more sustainable plant-based protein products that replicate meat, fish, milk, cheese, and eggs.
Over 100,000 genetically altered barley plants are being grown in a greenhouse in Iceland for an unexpected purpose: producing lab-made meat.
The modified barley is harvested and refined to extract “growth factor” proteins, which can then be used to make lab-grown meat. This innovation could lessen the reliance on live animals in the lab-grown meat industry in the future.
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ORF Genetics, the organization behind the greenhouse, is cultivating the biogenetically altered barley over 22,000 square feet using high-tech hydroponic growth methods.
Barley seed-derived growth factors play an essential role in stem cell maintenance. In 2010, ORF released a growth hormone-based skincare product.
The company expects to break into the cell-cultured beef market after a decade. Growth factors help tissues that contain these products, such as animal muscle and fat cells, develop.
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“The population is rising, and we have to feed all of the people,” ORF Genetics director of protein technology Arna Runarsdottir told the BBC.
Lab-grown beef would offer a plethora of advantages that might help feed the world if scientists can figure out how to mass-produce it.
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“We don’t have to kill all these animals; we just have to take the stem cell from them,” she added, noting that it’s a more viable and environmental option compared to conventionally grown meat.