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Second Nexus © 2019
[DIGEST: IFLS, Vice, The Telegraph]
Biotech food startup Memphis Meats had delicious news to share at a mid-March press event in San Francisco — and they delivered it on plates of Southern-fried chicken and duck à l’orange.
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The San Leandro, Calif.-based company offered 25 people the chance to taste the first chicken and duck meat grown from cells in a lab.</span></p><p><div id="insticator-container" class="embedid-ee1b1245-7f34-4d5c-8a70-c8be74fe7696"><div id="div-insticator-ad-1"></div><div id="insticator-embed"></div><div id="div-insticator-ad-2"></div><script data-cfasync="false" type="text/javascript">Insticator.ad.loadAd("div-insticator-ad-1");Insticator.ad.loadAd("div-insticator-ad-2");Insticator.load("em",{id : "ee1b1245-7f34-4d5c-8a70-c8be74fe7696"})</script></div></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"[It] was rich, juicy, and savory," </span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/03/15/test-tube-chicken-meat-unveiled-allow-vegetarians-eat-poultry/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> one taster, Emily Byrd from the </span><a href="http://www.gfi.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Good Food Institute</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, of the duck. "The mouthfeel was superb and tender. It was incredible to be eating the best duck of my life and know that it was produced in a way that is astronomically better for the planet, public health, and animals.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Next, I moved on to some fried chicken,” Byrd continued. “I was able to taste the future, and I went back for seconds. Clean meat is 100 percent real meat, so it tasted just like, well, what it was."</span></p><p><div data-conversation-spotlight=""></div></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Memphis Meats first made news last year after unveiling a meatball grown entirely with lab-cultured beef. Though much of the press centered on the fact the product cost </span><a href="https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/no-animals-were-harmed-in-the-making-of-this-18000-meatball"><span style="font-weight: 400;">$1,000 per ball</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, it marked the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultured_meat"><span style="font-weight: 400;">first time</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> a company announced its intention to bring cultured meat to the U.S. consumer market.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The process of growing poultry meat is much the same as growing beef, or even pork: Cells with a high capacity to regenerate (usually </span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/03/15/test-tube-chicken-meat-unveiled-allow-vegetarians-eat-poultry/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">stem cells</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">) are isolated from the actual animals, then placed into bioreactor tanks with oxygen, sugars and other nutrients that encourage them to grow. 9 to 21 days later — about the same time it would take a live chick to hatch — the meat is ready for harvest, featuring the same taste, texture and nutritional value as if conventionally grown.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s often referred to as “clean meat” (a term coined by the </span><a href="http://www.gfi.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Good Food Institute</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">), since its laboratory provenance ensures it’s free of antibiotics, pathogens, and bacteria.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Given that chicken is an annual </span><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4316494/Food-tech-startup-grows-chicken-PETRI-dish.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">$90 billion</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> market in the U.S. alone (the average person reportedly consumes 90 lbs. per year), poultry was an obvious next step for Memphis Meats.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It is thrilling to introduce the first chicken and duck that didn’t require raising animals,” </span><a href="http://www.iflscience.com/technology/worlds-first-labgrown-chicken-has-been-tasted-and-apparently-its-delicious/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Dr. Uma Valeti, co-founder and CEO of Memphis Meats. “We really believe this is a significant technological leap for humanity, and an incredible business opportunity — to transform a giant global industry while contributing to solving some of the most urgent sustainability issues of our time.”</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, as with the in-vitro meatball, getting the cost of lab-grown meat down is proving to be Memphis Meats’ most pressing challenge. One pound of cultured chicken currently costs about </span><a href="https://consumerist.com/2017/03/15/company-says-it-can-grow-real-chicken-meat-in-a-lab-would-you-eat-it/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">$9,000</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, compared with less than $4 a pound for conventionally grown chicken breast at most U.S. grocery stores. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Regardless, Valeti is hopeful that by 2021 Memphis Meats will be able to lower the price to the point where it will be a viable option for consumers: "We believe that in 20 years, a majority of meat sold in stores will be cultured,” he </span><a href="http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/lab-grown-meat-could-be-shelves-five-years-according-startup/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
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