Laboratory beef makes its debut

During the early ’60s, the creators of animated series The Jetsons had a vision of life in the future that involved insta-food popping out of a food replicator machine at the touch of button.

In a maybe not too surprising development, researchers have now held the first-ever taste test of what’s called “cultured meat.” That is, cloned meat grown in a laboratory, kind of like The Jetsons!

“The meat was produced using stem cells…from cow shoulder muscle from a slaughterhouse. The cells were multiplied in a nutrient solution and put into small petri dishes, where they became muscle cells and formed tiny strips of muscle fiber, ” according to The New York Times. “About 20,000 strips were used to make [a] five-ounce burger, which contained breadcrumbs, salt, and some natural colorings as well.”

But hold on, George Jetson. This burger costs $325,000 and was funded by one of the co-founders of Google! Reports suggest the burger looked good and had a good texture, but was lacking in taste.

The motivation for this experiment? Attacking world hunger and reducing global warming that is a result of methane gas from cows.

The best guess is it will take 10 or 15 years to make cultured meat commercially viable. But it would prove The Jetsons right in their predictions of the future once again!