1 in 2 woolly mammoths went extinct millennia ago, but scientists aim to bring them back to earth with 21st century genetic engineering — Photo: Getty Images Woolly mammoths went extinct millennia ago, but scientists aim to bring them back to earth with 21st century genetic engineering — Photo: Getty Images
Scientists presented a meatball made from meat grown in the laboratory of a woolly mammoth, an extinct species, in Amsterdam this Tuesday (28th) and said this “journey” into the past paves the way for the food of the future.
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The delicacy from Australian cultured meat company Vow has been on display under a glass dome at the NEMO science museum in the Dutch capital.
But this pachyderm meat is not yet ready for consumption: the millenniaold protein still has to undergo safety tests before it can be consumed by modern humans.
“We chose woolly mammoth meat because it is a symbol of the loss that has been wiped out by past climate change,” Tim Noakesmith, cofounder of Vow, told AFP.
“We face a similar fate if we don’t do things differently, like changing largescale farming practices and the way we eat,” he added.
The multiweek meatball was made by scientists who previously identified the DNA sequence of mammoth myoglobin, the protein that gives meat its flavor.
With some gaps, the DNA sequence was completed with genes from the African elephant, the closest living relative of this ancestral pachyderm, and introduced into lamb cells with the help of an electrical discharge.
“I’m not going to eat it yet because we haven’t seen this protein in 4,000 years,” said Ernst Wolvetang of the Australian Institute of Bioengineering at the University of Queensland, who worked with Vow.
“But after the safety tests, I’m really excited to see how it looks,” he added.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), global meat consumption has almost doubled since the early 1960s.
According to this organization, livestock accounts for 14.5% of humancaused global greenhouse gas emissions.
With the forecast that this consumption will increase by 70% by 2050, scientists are looking for alternatives such as plantbased or laboratorygrown meat.
Sydneybased company Vow doesn’t want to discourage people from eating meat, they want to “offer something better,” said Noakesmith, who describes himself as a “frustrated vegetarian”.
“We chose a mammoth meatball to raise awareness that the future of nutrition can be better and more sustainable,” he concluded.
2 of 2 Reconstruction of a woolly mammoth specimen at the Royal British Columbia Museum — Photo: rpongsaj/Wikimedia Commons Reconstruction of a woolly mammoth specimen at the Royal British Columbia Museum — Photo: rpongsaj/Wikimedia Commons