Would you eat test tube meat?

Scientists say the future of meat may be served fresh from the lab.

Maastricht University Professor Mark Post discussed his substitute meat, which would be grown from cow stem cells, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Vancouver on Sunday.

"It's still very small pieces, and too small to actually cook it right now," said Post, who added that the so-called "test tube" meat could be unveiled as early as October.

Meat the future: It may not look like much right now, but these tissues growing from cow stem cells could soon rival the meat market. (Dr. Mark Post/Maastricht University
"We are now gearing up to produce, let's say, a golf ball size of this stuff and then cook it."

Post's approach involves growing edible tissues from cow stem cells, a process he says would use about 40 per cent less energy than traditional livestock production.

But Post wasn't the only one who pitched a new kind of patty at the Vancouver meeting.

Professor Patrick Brown of Stanford University proposed a plant-based material that he believes can win over the "hardcore foodies."

He says the taste of his vegetarian alternative "cannot be distinguished from the animal-based product it replaces," and the meat substitute may be on the market by year's end.

Both scientists agreed that sophisticated meat alternatives could dramatically ease the environmental impact of producing meat for a growing, and increasingly meat-consuming, global population.

Are you a die-hard meat eater or would you be open to substitutes? Do you think "test tube" meat or plant-based simulation meat will eventually rival the real deal on the market?


(This survey is not scientific. Results are based on readers' responses.)