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Aleph Farms, a food company from Israel, successfully cultivated meat aboard the International Space Station.
To accomplish this, scientists conducted an experiment by mimicking the natural muscle-tissue regeneration that happens inside a cow’s body. They harvested cells from a cow and took them to space. Then, they put the cells in an environment that resembled the insides of a cow.
The company created the space-grown beef using technology from the Russian company 3D Bioprinting Solutions.
In a statement, Aleph Farms said that the experiment of growing beef in a laboratory aims to help combat climate change. According to a UN report, 41% of livestock greenhouse gas emissions come from cows. These make up 14.5% of emissions worldwide.
Additionally, the experiment can help save on food, water, and energy used in raising livestock. Didier Toubia [DID-yeh tuhb-YAH], Aleph Farms’s CEO, said the experiment shows that people can produce food without being reliant on natural sources like land and water.
Despite the experiment’s success, growing meat in space is not yet seen as possible in the near future. According to Toubia, Aleph Farms’s cultivated meat is not yet ready for consumption. He said that for now, the company has reached only the first milestone of meat production in space and developed the framework for this practice. He added that for this experiment, they only focused on copying the structure and texture of meat.
In addition, the large-scale production of meat in space would be challenging since delivering the materials to and from the station takes some time. However, in the future, Aleph Farms is considering growing meat on Earth through “bio-farms.”