Scientist developing “test-tube” meat by fall

A Dutch scientist plans to replace the meat-animal industry by using a cow’s stem cells in a lab to produce skeletal muscle tissue which he says exactly mimics meat.

Mark Post, chair of physiology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, spoke at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Vancouver. He told a crowd the ingredients for his first burger are still in a laboratory phase and he plans to turn a couple of thousand of small tissues into a hamburger by fall.

Yahoo News reports Post’s symposium was titled "The Next Agricultural Revolution.” The “meat” products are presented as a way to replace conventional food production, freeing up land and other resources.

Speakers at the conference are concerned with meeting growing food demands. They say conventional livestock producers can’t meet demands with current pastureland.

An anonymous private investor gave Post 250,000 euros to fund the project.

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