September 1, 2005
1 min read
Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAmIn Meatro
By JR Minkel
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Talk about a meat dish. A team has proposed a way to grow meat in the lab. Muscle precursors called myoblasts and myosatellite cells could be extracted from a desired animal and grown on a grooved biofilm or on small collagen beads that swell when heated. Stretching the film or expanding the beads just 10 percent at a time should induce the cells to fuse and become muscle fibers. Investigators have already produced skeletal muscle for clinical applications, and team member Vladimir Mironov of the Medical University of South Carolina is currently growing chicken cells on beads. In theory, a handful of animals could produce the world’s meat supply without being sacrificed, says Jason Matheny of the University of Maryland, co-author of the May issue Tissue Engineering paper that lays out these ideas.
It’s Time to Stand Up for Science
If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.
If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.
There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.
