Dutch try to grow environment-friendly meat in lab

Dutch scientists are trying to grow meat in a laboratory with goal of feeding millions without the need to raise and and slaughter animals. Although I wouldn't exactly feel comfortable knowing that this meat had been grown in lab conditions, it would alleviate the stresses for feeding millions of animals for food production.

"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," said Bernard Roelen, a veterinary science professor at Utrecht University. But it will take years before meat grown in labs and eventually factories reaches supermarket shelves. And so far, Roelen and his team have managed to grow only thin layers of cells that bear no resemblance to pork chops.

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After perfecting that process, scientists will then need to figure out how to layer tissues to add more bulk, since meat grown in petri dishes lacks the blood vessels needed to deliver nutrients through thick muscle fibers.

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