3D printing meat is one thing, but 3D printing a mouthwatering steak is living-in-the-future level shit. A team in Israel has figured out how to do just that by bioprinting the world’s first cultivated rib-eye steak.
Aleph Farms announced it had produced the world’s first slaughter-free rib-eye steak through the use of 3D bioprinting technology and real cow cells. The company worked with the Technion Israel Institute of Technology on the project.
How do you print a 3D steak?
The key is the company’s proprietary bioprinting technology which can now produce any type of steak. According to Aleph Farms, 3D bioprinting allows the printing of living cells that are then incubated to grow and interact. The cells then possess the textures and qualities of a real steak.
This new technology also allows for the natural process of vascularisation to occur which provides thicker tissues and allows the steak to emerge in a similar shape and structure to the raw steak we’re familiar with.
Aleph Farms said the steak incorporates muscle and fat similar to a rib-eye you’d find in a butcher’s shop. Minus the slaughtered animals.
“With the realization of this milestone, we have broken the barriers to introducing new levels of variety into the cultivated meat cuts we can now produce. As we look into the future of 3D bioprinting, the opportunities are endless,” Co-founder and Chief Scientific Advisor, Shulamit Levenberg said.
Aleph Farms plans to use this technology to expand to a larger portfolio of meat products. The team hopes it will lead to a more sustainable and secure global food system.
Where can you buy one?
The cultivated rib-eye is only a proof-of-concept at this stage. So, sadly, it’s not available for purchase just yet.
However, Aleph Farms announced its plans in November for the construction of a BioFarm that will prepare its prototype thin cut steak for large-scale production. Where do I sign up?
The idea of 3D printed meat has picked up steam recently with Novameat managing to 3D print plant-based meat. Slightly different to Aleph Farms’ procedure, Novameat uses a ‘meat fibre’ matrix created from water, vegetable fats and plant proteins to mimic the taste and texture of real meat.