A Sustainable Alternative to Real Meat
Australian company Vow has unveiled a giant meatball made of flesh cultivated using the DNA of an extinct woolly mammoth. The meatball, which was revealed at Nemo, a science museum in the Netherlands, is the first in a series of new kinds of meat that Vow hopes to produce by mixing and matching cells from unconventional species.
Vow cofounder Tim Noakesmith said the purpose was to get people talking about cultured meat as a sustainable alternative to real meat. With meat consumption projected to increase by more than 70 percent by 2050, alternatives like plant-based meats and lab-grown meat are being explored by scientists.
A Symbol of Diversity Loss and Climate Change
The woolly mammoth was chosen as a prime candidate for Vow’s meatball because its extinction was believed to have been caused by climate change. Mammoths are a symbol of diversity loss and climate change, making them the perfect choice for showcasing the potential of cultured meat.
The meatball was made of sheep cells inserted with a singular mammoth gene called myoglobin which is responsible for the aroma, color, and taste of meat. The mammoth’s DNA sequence obtained by Vow had gaps, so African elephant DNA was inserted to complete it. Scientists used the mammoth myoglobin DNA sequence, identified from a publicly available genome database, to create a protein that gives meat its texture, color, and taste.
Not Yet for Consumption Due to Safety Concerns
The woolly mammoth meatball has the aroma of crocodile meat and is not yet for consumption as it needs to undergo rigorous tests before being brought to market. Cultured meat as food is not yet regulated in the European Union. However, advocates hope that cultured meat will reduce the need to slaughter animals for food and help fight the climate crisis as the food system is responsible for about a third of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The Link between Livestock Farming and Climate Change
Vow aims to use technology to dream up new kinds of lab-grown meat to replace livestock farming and to highlight the link between large-scale livestock production and the destruction of wildlife and the climate crisis. Mammoth remains are regularly found entombed in Arctic permafrost, which allowed scientists to sequence the mammoth genome and learn intriguing details about the lives of these extinct Ice Age giants.
Regulatory Approval for Lab-made Meat
Singapore is the first country to approve cultured meat, and Vow hopes to soon get regulatory approval to sell lab-made quail meat it has developed. According to Vow’s cofounder Tim Noakesmith, another woolly mammoth meatball could be made “in a way that would make it more palatable to regulatory bodies.”
In conclusion, Vow’s giant woolly mammoth meatball serves not only as a showcase of their potential in cultured meat-production but also as a conversation starter regarding sustainable alternatives to real meat. Advocates hope that cultured meat will reduce our carbon footprint by limiting large-scale livestock production while still satiating our carnivorous appetite.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
