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The major problem with lab-grown burgers is that cell culture is quite difficult and expensive to do at even small scale. There are obviously efforts to radical
by entee 10y ago
The major problem with lab-grown burgers is that cell culture is quite difficult and expensive to do at even small scale. There are obviously efforts to radically decrease those costs, but some things are going to be quite hard to do cheaply and at large scale.
For example, on their own, cells have zero defense against invading bacteria/fungus. And yet they're being grown in high-nutrient media where any bacteria would thrive and possibly outcompete the growing meat cells. So you probably need a very sterile environment, which isn't so easy to do at very large scale.
In contrast, these burgers are made using materials we know how to handle safely and can produce at large scale. These should be quite a bit easier to get to market. As for taste, I think both have challenges, but can't speak as much to that because I haven't had either.
Full disclosure: Pat Brown was on my PhD committee in grad school
- WalterSear 10y agohttp://www.sciencealert.com/lab-grown-burger-patty-cost-drops-from-325-000-to-12 http://www.sciencealert.com/lab-grown-burger-patty-cost-drop...
- entee 10y agoYup, the relevant part of that article: "Post and his team are now working on replacing the serum [fetal calf serum] with something that doesn’t rely on animal products, and told the ABC that while they’re making great process, it’ll be at least a couple of decades before they can scale the technique up and make it commercially viable." If you're using fetal calf serum (FCS), you're definitely not particularly vegetarian, nor are you reducing the need for physical cows. Let's assume you can eventually get rid of that requirement though. Cost estimates for something that is quote "decades" away isn't quite meaningful. The hard part is scale, and it sounds like they're quite aware of that problem. Finally, $11 per burger is still insanely expensive. I can get a burger, with bun, cooked and handed to me on a platter for $1 at McDonald's. It's an enormous challenge to get lab grown meat down to an industrially relevant cost. I'd still bet on Impossible Foods's approach.
- dragonwriter 10y ago> Finally, $11 per burger is still insanely expensive Yeah, the price ($80/kg) is apparently quoted down to a quarter-poind burger portion of bulk "meat"; it's about $44/lb, which is around 11× the average retail price of ground beef (about $4/lb.) [0] > I can get a burger, with bun, cooked and handed to me on a platter for $1 at McDonald's. To be fair, the "hamburger" on the McDonald's menu is a 1/10 lb. (precooked weight) patty, which is much smaller than what is priced out. [0] https://www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic/data/AverageRetailFoodAndEnergyPrices_USandMidwest_Table.htm https://www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic/data/AverageRetailF...
- entee 10y agoFair enough on 1/10 vs 1/4 pound. Better McDonalds number: they will sell me a quarter pounder with cheese for $3.79, and that includes all the logistics, preparation, overhead etc. And yeah your bulk price is a better number anyway :) Fast food is mind blowingly cheap though, and yeah maybe higher end things will help move down the cost curve, but I think the technical difficulties around cell culture are truly massive. I'd be much more interested in things like making meat-like components out of yeast (easier to culture) than taking full on myocytes and culturing those to get a burger.
- Retric 10y agoMcDonalds is selling 1/10th not 1/4 lb burgers for 1$. So that's 2.5$ vs 11$. Also, ground beef is fairly cheap ~4$/lb, bacon is $6 per pound and Filet Mignon is 23$/lb. Still, even if they only sell it as flavor enhancer to the ethical vegetarian market that's still enough to scale and presumably drop the price over time.