Scientists create cultured meat using artificial blood vessels
An attempt was made to create larger cultured meat than previous cultured meats by using tube-like tissues that act like blood vessels. It was reported that this method produced cultured meat measuring 7 cm long x 4 cm wide x 2.25 cm thick.
Scalable tissue biofabrication via perfusable hollow fiber arrays for cultured meat applications: Trends in Biotechnology
Winner, winner, lab-made dinner! Team grows nugget-sized chicken chunk
Scientists create the world's largest lab-grown chicken nugget, complete with artificial veins
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/lab-grown-chicken-nugget-artificial-veins-rcna201837
Research has been done before on culturing living tissue to create artificial meat, but most of it has been done by culturing small pieces of meat and connecting them with edible frameworks or glue, and not many large pieces of cultured meat have been made. This is because a continuous supply of nutrients and oxygen is required to grow them to a certain size.
In animals, blood vessels are responsible for transporting nutrients and oxygen. Masaharu Takeuchi of the University of Tokyo and his colleagues have developed a 'bioreactor' that delivers nutrients using tube-like tissue that acts like blood vessels, in an attempt to mimic the circulatory system of animals.
Takeuchi and his team used hollow fibers from a semipermeable membrane, the same material used in household water filters and kidney dialysis equipment, arranged them evenly and cultured cells around the fibers. This made it possible to grow relatively large cultured meat, and they ultimately succeeded in culturing a piece of chicken meat measuring 7cm x 4cm x 2.25cm and weighing 11g.
The tissues cultivated in this study were not food-grade, so they have not yet reached consumers' tables, and the research team has not tasted them. The tubular fibers are also not edible, so they had to be manually pulled out of the meat at the end of the process. The research team is working on automating the removal of these fibers or replacing them with materials such as cellulose, a dietary fiber.
Growing large chunks, rather than sticking together small pieces, is desirable because it can better mimic the natural structure and texture of conventional meat, and while this technique may achieve a more natural texture, it still remains difficult to replicate the taste of real meat.
In addition to developing cultured meat, this research may also be useful for creating artificial tissues, which may have applications not only in food but also in fields such as regenerative medicine and biorobotics. 'The ability to deliver nutrients and oxygen to thick tissues is a fundamental challenge in any field,' said Takeuchi.
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