Dutch attempt to grow pork in the lab

THE NETHERLANDS - Dutch researchers are trying to grow pork meat in a laboratory with the goal of feeding millions without the need to raise and slaughter animals.
calendar icon 2 June 2007
clock icon 2 minute read

“We're trying to make meat without having to kill animals,” Bernard Roelen, a veterinary science professor at Utrecht University, said.

Although it is in its early stages, the idea is to replace harvesting meat from livestock with a process that eliminates the need for animal feed, transport, land use and the methane expelled by animals, which all hurt the environment, he said.

“Keeping animals just to eat them is in fact not so good for the environment,” Prof Roelen said.

“Animals need to grow, and animals produce many things that you do not eat.”

Developed nations are expected to consume an average of 43kg per capita of poultry, beef, pork and other meats this year, an amount that rises around two per cent annually, data from the UN' Food and Agriculture Organisation shows.

Asked whether people would be repulsed by lab-grown meat, Prof Roelen said he believed there would be enough demand, as much of what people eat today is already extensively processed, from the feed that animals consume to the conditions under which they are raised and the preparation of meat after slaughter.

Source: News.com.au

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