...and profit I assume.
Sci-fi steak a growth industry
BY NANCY DILLON
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
April 15, 2006
Coming soon to a grocery store near you: test-tube tenderloin and Petri-dish fish.
Miles away from any livestock farm, Bronx-born scientist Morris Benjaminson is growing meat under a microscope in his lab at Touro College on Long Island.
Benjaminson already has succeeded in nearly doubling the size of a goldfish fillet - and hopes his upcoming round of experiments will further his quest to produce edible meat, while giving hope to the next animal up for slaughter.
"Lots of people think this idea is ridiculous. And maybe they're right for now - but not forever," said Benjaminson, 75.
"Our population is growing at such an immense rate, food production is going to become a much bigger problem. My interest is producing noncontaminated food in a sustainable way."
The new tests will start this month with fleshy muscles taken from recently killed goldfish.
The researchers hope to beef up the in-vitro growth process with tiny jolts of electricity and embryo cells taken from the eggs of Zebra fish, which replicate quickly. The goal is 300% growth, the scientists said.
"I hate the term Frankenfish. That's not what these are," said Assistant Prof. James Gilchriest, wearing a crisp white lab coat. "We're not messing with the DNA. This is natural growth in a tightly controlled system with no antibiotics, pesticides or diseases."
The scientists started their research with NASA funding in the late 1990s. They expect Space Station astronauts, submarine crews and researchers stranded at remote Arctic outposts to be their first customers.
"You can envision a little coffee pot device in your kitchen where you add cells at night and in the morning you have sausage," Gilchriest said with a smile.
"Nowadays there's so much worry over avian flu, mad cow disease and PCBs," he argued. "Wouldn't it be nice to have a safe, reliable system that offers a continuous supply of protein?"
But it will be at least another decade before anyone can buy the brave new meat, the scientists predicted. Nobody has even tasted the futuristic fare so far.
Gilchriest said he once fried up some of the goldfish flesh with breadcrumbs and Pecorino cheese to see if they passed the "sniff test." But none of the researchers took a bite because the meat hasn't been approved for human consumption by the Food and Drug Administration.
Several health-food aficionados said they'd be happy if the food never wins FDA approval.
"If you're in outer space, I can understand. But not here on planet Earth. The idea scares the heck out of me," said Annette Averette, 54, manager of the Sixth Street Community Center, an East Village agriculture project affiliated with JustFood.org.
Sarah Johnston, executive director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, said she's not sure she'd "be willing to feed this stuff to my pet."
"How do I know it's not producing some novel proteins that have never occurred in the world?" she asked. "It's one big experiment I'm not willing to join."