Sharjah24 – Reuters: Wagyu beef could soon have a vegan alternative thanks to scientists at Japan's Osaka University who have been 3D-printing this lab-grown meat.
They hope it could be a more sustainable alternative to the country's famed Wagyu beef and say the move could help address food and protein shortages in the future.
Up until now the University says lab-grown, or cultured, meat has largely been minced.
This on the other hand aims to mimic the high marble content and structure of Wagyu which are the qualities that set it apart from other types of beef.
Professor Michiya Matsusaki and his research team first extracted bovine cells from Japanese Black Cows and manually piece the fibers together to create the meat.
Professor from Osaka University, Michiya Matsusaki,said, "We used bovine cells to generate and gather three types of fiber structures - fat, blood vessel and muscle - to create a simple simulated structure of meat.”
There's no word on the taste though. This Wagyu is not ready to be served up just yet.
It currently takes up to four weeks to generate a small cube of Wagyu, at a cost of 10,000 yen a gram – or approximately $89.
Matsusaki said once the process is refined and automated, the meat could be mass produced within five years, which would bring down the cost.
Aside from possibly helping to address food shortage issues one day. Matsusaki also believes the technology could eventually be applied to regenerative medicine.
“If we replace it with human cells, we might be able to transplant human muscle generated from cells, such as a thigh muscle, to where it's missing. That is what we are hoping for as we continue this research."
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