Lab-grown meat for many will be the future of the industry. In addition to not taking off as well as it should, there seems to be another problem: according to a new analysis, the mass production of lab-grown meat – with current technologies – could be significantly worse for the environment than real meat.
The study has not yet been peer-reviewedbut suggests that the process augmentation may release between 4 and 25 times more emissions than the global beef industry. It is true that the technology eliminates the need for land, water and antibiotics for raising livestock, but many efforts (and investments) have also been made to reduce emissions.
Of course, while releasing a lot of greenhouse gases there are certainly benefits, such as the fact that the food does not harm the animals, but we should find another solution to achieve our environmental goals. In particular, the removal of endotoxins – which are released by bacteria into the environment – is absolutely essential for creating cultured meat, as small amounts of these toxins can prevent cells from proliferating.
“The use of these refinement methods contributes significantly to the economic and environmental costs associated with pharmaceutical products as they require both energy and resources“, say the authors of the study. The solution according to the researchers is simple: the development of cell lines capable of tolerating higher levels of endotoxins it can reduce the need for energy-intensive purification processes, thereby reducing the environmental impact of lab-grown meat.
