How will they menu of the future? There are many plausible answers. It seems pretty obvious that they may contain insects. Or even fed with freeze-driedlike those consumed by astronauts. There may even be products made in 3d printers. It’s also possible that we can eat lab grown meat. But is it possible to go beyond meat products? The goal is to preferentially replace animal products, and the truth is that there are already quite a few advances in this regard with products such as milk or eggs. As much as it is possible to develop a whole menu based on artificial food.
Perhaps the term “artificial products” is not the most correct, since these are still real products, with some nutritional properties practically equivalent to traditional ones. The only difference is that would not have come from animals, but they will be made in the laboratory thanks to the latest advances in technology genetic engineering and cell cultures.
With all this in mind, we could create a menu consisting of appetizer, main course and dessert. An omelet, a good lab-grown beef steak and finally a milkshake. It’s all very simple, apparently, but there’s a lot of science behind it.
Not all artificial foods on this menu
Artificial products or, more correctly, obtained in the laboratoryor they will be the main ingredient of this menu. However, we must not forget that for a balanced diet, we must respect the proportions of the Harvard plate and, therefore, we will have to add a fair amount vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats to proteins represented by eggs and meat grown in the laboratory. Once this is clear, let’s see what each dish consists of.
Omelet with special eggs
Bacteria can be used as small infinity factories beneficial substances for humans. This can happen naturally, such as when grape juice is fermented into wine. But it may also require the intervention of scientists who introduce the genes they need to produce these substances into certain microorganisms. Here’s what’s happening with insulinFor example.
In the past, this much-needed hormone for diabetics was obtained directly from the pancreas of pigs. However, it can cause allergies, not to mention the harm caused to animals. Therefore, as technology improves Genetic Engineering made this possible, began to use bacteria coli modified for the production of this substance.
The DNA of microorganisms can be modified so that they synthesize the proteins we need.
Over time, a large number of compounds have been obtained. They may be substances resulting from fermentation or proteins which are produced directly in bacteria, thanks to instructions inserted between their genes. Like the people information contained in DNA from bacteria is transcribed into RNA and then transferred to ribosomes, where instructions are used to make proteins. What genetic engineering does is modify the bacteria’s instructions to make the proteins we need.
It may also find use in the production of artificial foods such as eggs. Actually an American company Clara Foods For many years he has been researching how to obtain proteins from egg whites using genetically modified microorganisms. Then they could do the same with bud. True, it was not possible to obtain a whole egg, but it turned out to be enough to obtain it. meringue, pancakes and scrambled eggs nutritionally equivalent to those that would be obtained from traditional eggs. Hence tortilla our menu can be made using these proteins.
Good lab-grown beef steak
Lab-grown meat is queen artificial food. In this case, more than genetic engineering, methods are used Cell cultures.
To develop it, we get muscle stem cells and are exposed to the parameters necessary for their proliferation and development into adult cells. Not required to do biopsy continuously to cattle, because once you have the first ones, you can take a small sample to get more.
The first step is to obtain stem cell samples from animal muscles.
A perfusion system is also used, similar to blood irrigation, through which provide essential nutrients and oxygen for his growth. In addition, they grow along with other cell types such as fat cells or adipocytesto ensure an adequate supply of chemical messengers. In short, it mimics the natural conditions in which these cells proliferate in the body of the animals from which the stem cells were extracted.
Then, with proper processing, you can get all kinds of artificial food, from steaks to burgers and sausagesYes
And for dessert: a milkshake
We could make pancakes for dessert using the eggs from the first course. However, in order not to repeat the ingredients, the dessert on our menu will consist of a smoothie made from milk and any other ingredients. Basically, since we’re talking about artificial food or cultivatedwe are interested in milk here.
This product was first obtained in 2014 by a mechanism similar to that of eggs. Another American company, Muufri, has succeeded in genetically modifying yeast so that it can synthesize milk proteins.
To obtain artificial milk, proteins obtained from microorganisms, fatty acids with their modified structure and water are used.
Again, protein alone is not enough. However, as these scholars explained in statements collected Science Alertmilk consists of a very simple recipe, tk. 87% of its composition is just water. In their case they added six proteins synthesized by genetically modified yeast. As well as eight fatty acids which contributed to the aroma.
The latter were derived from plants but have been modified so that their structure is more similar to that of milk fatty acids. At one time they admitted that the result is much more expensive than regular milkl. It’s logical, actually. However, the goal is that over time, all the ingredients of this laboratory menu will become available to the entire population. We haven’t gotten to that yet, but we’ll be fine. It may just be a matter of time.
Source: Hiper Textual
