Aleph Farms, an Israeli developer of cultured meat, reports it assisted in the successful growth of cultured beef on the International Space Station (ISS), 248 miles away from any natural resources.
Aleph's animal cell samples blasted off in the Russian space ship Soyuz MS-15 on Sept. 25, which docked with ISS. On Sept. 26, "a successful proof of concept has been established in assembling a small-scale muscle tissue in a 3D bioprinter developed by 3D Bioprinting Solutions, under micro-gravity conditions," the company said.
3D Bioprinting Solutions is a Russian company. U.S. firms Meal Source Technologies and Finless Foods also were involved in the test.
“In space, we don’t have 10,000 or 15,000 liter (3962.58 gallons) of water available to produce one Kg (2.2 lb.) of beef,” says Didier Toubia, co-founder and CEO of Aleph Farms. “This joint experiment marks a significant first step toward achieving our vision to ensure food security for generations to come, while preserving our natural resources."
And possibly serving steaks to a crew in space.
Lab-grown meat was a big part of our 2019 outlook story.
Back in July, Cargill Inc. was among the investors in a $12 million round of funding for Aleph Farms.
Last December, Aleph shared with us a video of what it called "the first cultured beef steak."
