A group of scientists from Osaka University has recreated the precious cut of meat. Eco-friendly and appreciated by many for its health benefits, synthetic meat is increasingly similar to the original
To produce the artificial version of the precious fillet – Kobe is one of the finest beef in the world – Japanese scientists used stem cells isolated from meat from Wagyu beef variety. It is a particular breed of cattle raised exclusively in Japan and which has become famous for the qualities of the cuts that are obtained from it, especially the Kobe tenderloin. One of its most appreciated characteristics is the marbling, or the distribution of fat within the muscle tissue.
This was the challenge for the Osaka researchers. The synthetic meat experiments, also called “clean meat” because it does not derive from slaughtered animals, conducted so far have shown how the muscle fibers of artificial steaks are poorly organized and fail to reproduce the complex structure of their natural competitors. However, the creators of synthetic Kobe have managed to overcome this limitation starting from three different varieties of stem cells isolated from muscle tissue, fat tissue and blood vessels.
3D printing finally allowed the passage from the laboratory to the plate: after having obtained the three different species of fibers in vitro, the researchers ordered them following the structure of the famous cut of meat and then printed them through 3D technology.
I study, published in the journal Nature Communications, could score a turning point in the “synthetic meat” market, already in strong expansion due to the increasing sensitivity to the environment and human health. In the world it is already possible to eat it, as in Singapore or Tel Aviv. But it’s not hard to imagine that the green alternative to meat will soon reach everywhere, thanks to the possibility of obtaining varieties more and more similar to the original. For example, thanks to the improvement of the technologies used in the experiment of the Japanese University – its authors suggest – it will even be possible customize the cuts of meat according to tastes and the food needs of consumers.
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