World's First Lab Grown Burger Cooked and Eaten

Posted on August 5, 2013

The world's first lab-grown beef burger has been cooked and eaten. The burger was developed by Mark Post of Maastricht University. Bloomberg reports that it cost $332,000 and three months to produce the meat. Google co-founder Sergey Brin funded the research.

The meat was grown in the lab from muscle stem cells taken from living cows. Reuters reports that ingredients found in regular hamburgers - salt, breadcrumbs and egg powder - were added to the lab meat. Red beet juice and saffron were added as well to give the meat a more appealing color.

The people who ate the lab grown meat say it tasted close to real meat. The Guardian reports that Hanni Rutzler of the Future Food Studio said the lack of fat in the meat was noticeable. Josh Schonwald, author of Taste of Tomorrow, described the lab meat as having a texture "like an animal protein cake."

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