Houston Chronicle by Andrea Leinfelder 1/16/2022
Rare or well done? Private astronaut to grow steaks from cow cells during Houston-planned space mission
Astronauts are working to turn cow cells into steaks in space.
An upcoming mission arranged by Houston-based Axiom Space will include an Israeli company’s technology for turning cow cells into hunks of raw meat.
This early test, set to launch next month when Axiom sends private astronauts to the International Space Station, will be a precursor to steaks that are ready to slap on the grill. Aleph Farms is testing processes for growing cow cells and turning them into the muscle, fat and other components that render a juicy steak.
“Aleph’s general goal is to be able to provide nutritious, tasty, sustainable food anywhere, anytime,” said Zvika Tamari, the head of space research at Aleph Farms. “And stretching that to its limit is the ability to also provide nutrition in space.”
Aleph Farms was spun out of a lab at Technion — Israeli Institute of Technology led by tissue engineering expert Professor Shulamit Levenberg. The lab is focused on cultivating tissues and growing cells for human medicine, but one Ph.D. student started working on growing meat.
The company was founded in 2017 by Levenberg, food technology incubator The Kitchen, which is part of Israel-based food and beverage company Strauss Group, and food engineer and biologist Didier Toubia, who is now the company’s CEO.
On Earth, Aleph is growing steaks to decrease the amount of land, water and greenhouse gas emissions associated with raising cattle. Growing meat from cells in a sterile environment also doesn’t require injecting food sources with antibiotics.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/space/article/Rare-or-well-done-Private-astronaut-to-grow-16778557.php
