Personally, 3D printing is an exhilarating reality (who doesn’t want to dabble with the idea of life in a Jetson’s space house?). But, if I have to run into Metro City every time I need comestible ink cartridges for my meat cravings, forgive me for being a little perturbed.
The idea behind this 3D printing project is to save our planet, one synthetic meat slab at a time. While there are many humanitarian reasons as to why Modern Meadow wants to be a revolutionary sous chef – saving us from obesity, decreasing air pollution from cow flatulence – the idea of using tissue engineering to satiate my gluttonous appetite, doesn’t bode well.
The inspiration for this? Scientists have already had a go with synthetic tissue cells to emulate bodily organs, yes, pulsating hearts and heaving lungs – for medical implants in case of emergencies. Now, engineers are fabricating 3D porcine cell sheets for the “finest quality” bio-printed meats for our dinner tables. Mmm, I can smell the sizzling aroma coming from my printer already.
If all goes normal with Modern Meadow’s project, we will have our first tastes of “muscle-tissue” sausage. Sound appetizing?
