Astronauts Have Just Bioprinted Beef in Space
Conducted in the Russian sector aboard the ISS.
Many companies have experimented with lab-grown meat for a while now to create a more sustainable food source for our planet, but now Aleph Farms has managed to grow meat out in space for the very first time in history.
The experiment was conducted in the Russian sector aboard the International Space Station earlier in September, and involved a bioprinter from 3D Bioprinting Solutions, which “printed” the meat in space. The company uses a technique that mimics a cow’s muscle tissue regeneration, but in artificial conditions. Unlike doing it on Earth, the process in space actually led to faster maturation since without gravity, the bioprinter could work from all directions at once.
Of course, this one-off experiment is far from mass production, but Aleph Farm’s Yoav Reisler says that the company is planning to build on the success and make lab-grown meat readily available on Earth at a much larger scale using what he calls “bio-farms.”
For those unaware, lab-grown meat has a lot of advantages in terms of sustainability. Aleph Farms says that growing meat requires much less power, water, and farmland, and can lead to lower emissions whilst being the best solution to food shortages.
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