It may be quite surprising but the truth is that science seems to be advancing in the food sector in search of alternatives to the traditional use of obtaining food of animal origin. We recently saw how a cow’s milk had been developed in a laboratory and now Japanese scientists from the University of Osaka have taken a step further by creating a piece of Wagyu meat , considered the most expensive meat in the world , to from a 3D printer.
Japanese scientists create the first Wagyu meat with a 3D printer
For the creation of the so-called “first Waygu 3D sirloin”, scientists at the University of Osaka took stem cells from some Japanese cattle.
These bovine breeds are highly valued thanks to their intensely marbled meat, capable of producing a large amount of tissues rich in unsaturated fats. It is precisely this characteristic that gives the meat its flavor and texture. As you can imagine, then, Wagyu beef 3D printing is an extremely difficult undertaking.
However, the team of researchers achieved the feat of replicating this meat using a special technique and setting a precedent that could pave the way for an even more sustainable future with laboratory-grown meat.
According to reports in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers used two types of stem cells: bovine satellite cells (which are related to muscle growth) and stem cells isolated from the cheeks of Wagyu cows. The stem cells hatched and became the cells necessary to form meat (muscle, fat, and blood vessels). The latter were later “assembled” to create the distinctive appearance of Wagyu meat.
To give you a better understanding, the researchers adapted a technique used to produce the Japanese sweet Kintaro, an ancient traditional dessert formed into a long tube and cut into slices. The layers were sliced perpendicularly and “joined” to form the meat.
The team has not disclosed the production cost of creating this piece of meat and has not yet revealed when it might be available in the market since it is obviously not edible at the moment. Their results, however, appear promising and offer the possibility of being able to produce meat not only from bovine cells but also from other animals. On the other hand, the “achievement” adds to a previous one, as the world’s first laboratory-grown meat factory was recently established , using stem cells from muscle fibers from cows.
