Japanese laboratory uses 3D printer to make expensive Wagyu beef

Scientists can now print their meat and eat it.

A research team used stem cells isolated from Japanese specialty Wagyu beef to 3D print a meat substitute containing muscle, fat, and blood vessels arranged in a manner similar to a super expensive steak.

The bioprinted meat is very similar to traditional varieties, but it is experimental and not yet ready for human consumption. A researcher from Osaka University said: “Because the cultured steak-like tissue displayed is a small piece and inedible, further details are needed.”

They stated that there is still a long way to go to achieve “printing scalability, edibility of cultures, and materials related to cell printing.”

Their research is Publish In the August 24th issue of Nature Communications.

Wagyu is a product of the same name Japanese beef, known for its “marble pattern”-the Japanese call it “sashi”. Its fine fat and protein pattern distinguishes it from the coarser American beef. The retail price of premium cuts of Wagyu is between US$100 and US$1,000.

“By improving this technology, it is not only possible to replicate the complex meat structure, such as the beautiful sashimi of Wagyu beef, but also to fine-tune the fat and muscle composition.” Paper.

Bioprinting technology can be seen in the video of Osaka University.

The production of “steak” begins with stem cells isolated from the muscle and fat tissues of dairy cows. They say these stem cells are cultivated into any type of cell that scientists need to create meat-like results.

In the biological 3D printing stage, scientists organize the generated muscles, blood vessels, and fat, and then cut the final product into a traditional steak shape. They call it “Tendon Gel Integrated Bioprinting.”

In a press release, Osaka University stated that this technology “may help usher in a more sustainable future through the widespread use of cultivated meat.” This is because laboratory-printed meat will not produce the same amount as the livestock industry. Greenhouse gas emissions-especially methane gas emitted by cattle when digesting food.

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization United Nations 2006 report Agriculture accounts for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The organization’s report concluded that 62% of the emissions can be traced to cattle.

However, recently, the research department of the U.S. Department of Agriculture published a paper in the journal Agricultural Systems, and the results were quite different.

Government researchers have found that US beef cattle production accounts for only 3.3% of all US greenhouse gas emissions. They traced more than half (56%) of the 2016 total to transportation and power generation. They report that all American agriculture accounts for 9%.

This story is provided by Newsweek Zenger News.