Scientists grow mammoth meat in the lab to make a prehistoric meatball, but are afraid to eat it
By expiration date, this meatball is only a few thousand years old. That’s because it contains the resurrected meat of the woolly mammoth, a beast that went extinct about 10,000 years ago.
The prehistoric meatball was made by an Australian meat farming company that ultimately wants to mix and match cells from non-traditional species to create new types of meat.
The scientists took the DNA sequence from a mammoth muscle protein and filled in the gaps with the code for an elephant, the species’ closest living relative.
This sequence was then inserted into sheep myoblast stem cells, which replicated to grow 20 billion cells, which in turn were used to grow mammoth meat.
However, despite creating what they hope will be “really tasty” meat, experts are too afraid to eat it if the ancient protein proves deadly.
Unusual: Scientists have grown mammoth meat in the lab to make a prehistoric meatball (pictured)
How it works: Scientists took the DNA sequence from a mammoth muscle protein and filled in the gaps with the code for an elephant, the species’ closest living relative.
“We haven’t seen this protein in thousands of years,” said Professor Ernst Wolvetang, who made the meatballs with Vow.
“So we have no idea how our immune system will react when we eat it.
“But if we did it again, we certainly could do it in a way that would make it more palatable to regulators.”
This was announced by Professor Volvetang from the Australian Institute of Bioengineering at the University of Queensland. Guardian the process was “incredibly easy and quick” and was completed in “a couple of weeks”.
He added that the original purpose was to produce dodo meat. However, because The DNA sequences required for this do not currently exist, it was impossible.
The original idea for the giant meatball came from Bas Corsten of creative agency Wunderman Thompson.
Vow said he ended up choosing this meat because it [the mammoth] is a symbol of the loss of diversity and a symbol of climate change.”
It is believed that this animal became extinct due to human hunting and the warming of the world after the last ice age.
The company’s main goal is to demonstrate the potential of cell-grown meat as an alternative to animal slaughter and the associated global warming associated with large-scale animal husbandry.
Growing meat requires much less land and water than animal husbandry, and also produces no methane emissions.
The scientists say the overall environmental impact of cultured meat production is likely to be significantly lower than that of traditional meat production, although a direct comparison is not possible because cultured foods are not yet commercially produced.
The gaps in the DNA are filled with the code for a living close relative of the mammoth, the African elephant.
The resulting DNA sequence is placed in sheep stem cells, which replicate to create 20 billion copies, which can then be used to cook mammoth meat and produce meatballs.
Laboratory tests: The DNA sequence was inserted into sheep myoblast stem cells, which replicated to grow 20 billion cells, which in turn were used to grow mammoth meat.
One study claimed that cultured meat required about 7 to 45 percent less energy than conventionally produced meat in Europe.
Greenhouse gas emissions were also found to be reduced by 78-96 percent, with land use reduced by 99 percent and water consumption by 82-96 percent.
Plant-based meat alternatives are commonly seen on supermarket shelves around the world, but cultured meat is still a growing area of expertise.
Good Meat cultured chicken that mimics the taste of real meat, currently only sold to consumers in Singapore.
Clumsy Beast: Vow said he ended up choosing the mammoth “because it’s a symbol of loss of diversity and a symbol of climate change.”
Off the menu: However, despite creating what they hope will be “really tasty” meat, experts are too afraid to eat it if the ancient protein proves deadly.
However, two companies – Good Meat and California-based Upside Foods – have already gone through the US approval process.
George Peppu, CEO of Vow, told the Guardian: “The goal is to wean several billion meat eaters off food.” [conventional] animal protein to eat what can be produced in electrified systems.
“And we think the best way to do that is to invent meat. We’re looking for cells that are easy to grow, really tasty and nutritious, and then we mix and match those cells to create really tasty meat.”
Tonight (Thursday) the mammoth meatball will be on display at Nemo, the science museum in the Netherlands.