Did you know that a single cow cell can make millions of patties? Synthetic meat is a term commonly used to define meat grown in a lab using the cells of a certain animal. The first sample of synthetic meat was publicly displayed in 2013 by Dutch scientist Mark Post. However, it was first approved for public sale in 2020 by Singapore and the United States of America in 2023.
Synthetic meat, or cultured meat, is real meat but it is made by scientists using animal cells instead of slaughtering animals for their meat.
This process begins with scientists collecting small samples of muscle cells from certain animals. These cells are then placed in warm, nutrient rich liquid that lets them grow and multiply similar to how our body grows new cells. These growing cells are placed in special machines called bioreactors where they form muscle tissue, which is what meat is made of.
The result is a piece of real meat that’s never been part of a real animal. Yet it tastes just like regular meat. Synthetic meat is beneficial as no animals are killed in the process, and ( this is because of many ethical and environmental reasons including deforestation, greenhouse gasses) is much easier to mass produce to meet growing populations.