WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

Maria San Miguel, Daniel Garcia-Moreno, Angel San Miguel*, Julia San Miguel

ABSTRACT

Synthetic meat, also known as cultured or lab meat, is a food product created through the cultivation of animal cells in a controlled laboratory environment. This process involves taking a small sample of cells from a living animal and culturing them in a suitable culture medium for them to multiply and form muscle tissue. This aims to replicate the characteristics and properties of conventional meat, but with potential advantages, such as a smaller environmental footprint, reduced animal suffering, and mitigation of food safety risks associated with conventional meat production. The synthetic meat production process involves several stages, such as obtaining stem cells or progenitor cells, their multiplication in a bioreactor and their subsequent differentiation into muscle tissue. Once enough muscle tissue has been produced, it can be processed and used to create meat products such as hamburgers, sausages, and steaks. Synthetic meat has potential advantages, such as less use of natural resources, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and the elimination of the need to raise and slaughter animals. It is also expected to offer greater traceability and food safety, while providing an alternative to consumers concerned about animal welfare. However, synthetic meat still faces significant challenges, such as high production costs, the need for large-scale scalability, consumer acceptance, and regulatory challenges. As technology continues to advance and these challenges are overcome, synthetic meat is expected to become a widely available and viable alternative on the market. Therefore, synthetic meat is a food product created through the cultivation of animal cells in a laboratory setting. It has the potential to offer environmental, ethical and food safety benefits, although it still faces challenges for its large-scale production and consumer acceptance.