Synthetic meat company plans to print steaks from human cells

Israel company MeaTech has received $US28 million in startup funding after listing on stock exchanges in Israel and the US.

The company says it is the first 3D printed cultured meat technology company to be publicly traded.

MeaTech is controversially developing a three-dimensional bioprinter to deposit layers of differentiated stem cells, scaffolding, and cell nutrients in the form of structured cultured meat.

MeaTech's goal is to produce meat from umbilical cord cells with the end product replicating the taste, texture and quality of steak.

The company says it is also developing a biotechnical process in which stem cells from living animals, such as cows and chickens, are harvested and cultivated in bioreactors, to be transformed into advanced products like steaks and other real meat products, using proprietary 3D bioprinting technology.

MORE READING: Plant-based meat doesn't stack up as climate saver.

Digital meat joins plants, microorganisms and other cultured meat from animal cells driving the protein replacement search.

An American research company, the Boston Consulting Group, estimates 11 per cent of all the meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy eaten globally could be alternative by 2035.

MeaTech began cultured meat operations in 2019 and in 2020 claims to have successfully bio-printed an edible cultured beef fat structure grown and developed from stem cells.

MeaTech's chief executive officer Sharon Fima said: "The world is looking for more sustainable agriculture practices, and we believe cultured meats - created without slaughtering livestock - can be a significant advancement towards that goal.

"With the technology we are creating, we expect to see real meat grown in clean, controlled conditions in just months, instead of the years it takes to produce farm-raised meat.

"In addition to having the potential to be a more sustainable production process, cultured meat can be produced anywhere on the planet, changing supply chains.

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