International Journal of Food Nutrition and Safety, 2013, 3(1): 29-54 International Journal of Food Nutrition and Safety ISSN: 2165-896X Journal homepage: www.ModernScientificPress.com/Journals/IJFNS.aspx Florida, USA Review Meat Production from Stem Cells: Myth or Reality Heena Jalal 1, *, Mir Salahuddin 1, Humaira Gazalli 1 Division of Livestock Products Technology, Faculty of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, SKUAST-K, Ganderbal-190006 (J & K), India * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +91-8054478516. Article history: Received 3 February 2013, Received in revised form 18 February 2013, Accepted 19 February 2013, Published 20 February 2013. Abstract: The use of livestock for the production of food has always been an essential part of man’s existence on earth. To suit the meat demands of a modern society, animals are intensively kept and production is optimized disregarding the well being of animals. This results in herding of animals in confined spaces in unfavourable conditions. The adaptability of animals is not high enough to cope with this unnatural condition, and high stress levels are observed resulting in disease, abnormal behaviour and death. Another problem associated with mass animal production is the environmental problem caused by the enormous amounts of excrement the animals produce and which the environment subsequently has to deal with. Meat consumption around the world is growing at an incredible rate. The only way out is to increase the world's meat supply and help fight global hunger. The novel ways to increase food production will be needed. One way to get out of this predicament is to exploit the potential of modern biotechnology and process technology to produce meat from normal muscle progenitor cells in bioreactors at an industrial scale. he production of meat (muscle tissue) from cultured stem cells is a potential and promising alternative. Cultured meat could have financial, health, environmental and animal welfare advantages over traditional meat. Keywords: meat; production; stem cells; biotechnology; muscle tissue; food; disease. Copyright © 2013 by Modern Scientific Press Company, Florida, USA Int. J. Food Nutr. Saf. 2013, 3(1): 29-54 30 1. Introduction The use of livestock for the production of food has always been an essential part of man’s existence on earth and its impact has until recent years been primarily positive, both economically and socially. However, current production methods are rather demanding. It has been estimated that the global population will increase from 6 billion people in 2000 to 9 billion people in the year 2050. It is anticipated that in the same period annual global meat production will rise from 228 to 465 million tonnes due to rising incomes, urbanization and growing populations (FAO, 2006). This means more and more people will begin eating meat. The latter is at the expense of food of plant origin such as cereals. These changes in consumption, together with sizeable population growth and urbanization, have led and will continue to lead to large increases in the total demand for animal products in many developing countries. In order for the population to be fed sufficiently more and more land is required for food produce. The natural sources are insufficient to fulfil the demand. Globally, 30% of the land surface is used for livestock production with 33% of arable land being used for growing livestock feed crops and 26% being used for grazing (Steinfeld et al., 2006). About 70% of the fresh water use and 20% of the energy consumption of mankind is directly or indirectly used for food production, of which a considerable proportion is used for the production of meat. Also the large amount of land currently required for animal production or the production of feed for the animals which cannot be used for alternative purposes such as growth of other crop, housing, recreation, wild nature and forests. To suit the meat demands of a modern society, animals are intensively kept and production is optimized disregarding the well being of animals being used, an efficient and cheap production system is required. This results in herding of animals in confined spaces in unfavourable conditions. The adaptability of animals is not high enough to cope with this unnatural condition, and high stress levels are observed resulting in disease, abnormal behaviour and death (Crok, 2003). Some animal races like pigs and chickens domesticated for meat production have such a high growth rate for muscle tissue that the cardiovascular system is incapable of providing satisfactory amounts of oxygen to the animal body, leading to health problems and in chickens even to preliminary death (Crok, 2003). This raises serious ethical questions. Another problem is that of animal disease epidemics and more serious threat is posed by the chicken flu, as this can lead to possible new influenza epidemics or even pandemics, which can kill millions of people (Webster, 2002). It is increasing the number of diseases and the consequences thereof for both animals and humans. Large scale slaughtering is currently required to fulfil the current food requirements and as a consequence of large scale disease outbreaks. We can take for example the recent large scale occurrence of porcine pest virus and mad cows disease. These diseases also result in loss of the meat for human consumption thus completely denying the purpose for which the animals Copyright © 2013 by Modern Scientific Press Company, Florida, USA Int. J. Food Nutr. Saf. 2013, 3(1): 29-54 31 were being bred in the first place. Another problem associated with mass animal production is the environmental problem caused by the enormous amounts of excrement the animals produce and which the environment subsequently has to deal with. Greenhouse emissions and energy requirements also pose potential difficulties. The livestock sector contributes 18% of the anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and 37% of the anthropogenic methane emissions to the atmosphere worldwide (Steinfeld et al., 2006). The 18% of green house gas emission is currently produced by livestock which is more than the total emission of the transportation sector (FAO, 2006). The water use for livestock and accompanying feed crop production also has a dramatic effect on the environment such as a decrease in the fresh water supply, erosion and subsequent habitat and biodiversity loss (Asner et al., 2004; Savadogo et al., 2007). Thus, cost of current production process to the climate, the environment, the deforestation and animal welfare is too high to provide for this increasing demand in any sustainable way. On the other hand, humans are taxonomically omnivorous and meat provides several essential nutrients unavailable in plant sources. Meat is specifically valuable as a source of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, and highly bio-available iron (Bender, 1992). Under consumption of animal-derived products is closely associated with malnutrition in poorer areas of the world where access to plant derived food is also very limited. The average American currently consumes approximately 124 kg of meat each year. By contrast, the average worldwide consumption is 31 kg a year, with Bangladesh the lowest at 3 kg per person (FAO, 2006). This situation though is changing; meat consumption around the world is growing at an incredible rate. The only way out is to increase the world's meat supply and help fight global hunger. Traditional methods of assembly-line meat production require not only ever- increasing inputs of corn, soy, and other grains, but also enormous amounts of energy. Livestock production imposes a vast burden on global resources and it is one that the expanding world population can no longer sustain. It will not be possible to produce all that meat in an environmental and animal friendly way. With the world population forecast to hit 9 billion people by 2050 novel ways to increase food production will be needed. It is a tremendous political and economic challenge to change this grim scenario into a more sustainable one if we continue to base our meat consumption solely on production of animals. One way to get out of this predicament is to exploit the potential of modern biotechnology and process technology to produce meat from normal muscle progenitor cells in bioreactors at an industrial scale. If this production strategy were to replace a substantial part of the current meat production regime, this may allow development of a downsized animal production industry which can acquire a competitive edge in the upper-level meat market by documenting that it is ecologically sound and meets basic animal welfare requirements. Implementation of an in-vitro meat production system (IMPS) to complement existing meat production practices creates the opportunity for meat products of different characteristics to be put onto the market. While widening the scope of Copyright © 2013 by Modern Scientific Press Company, Florida, USA Int. J. Food Nutr. Saf. 2013, 3(1): 29-54 32 the meat industry in practices and products, the IMPS will reduce the need for agricultural resources to produce meat. Widespread adoption of the technology also holds the potential to increase the world's meat supply, which could help fight global hunger. Thus, the production of meat (muscle tissue) from cultured stem cells is a potential and promising alternative. 2. In-vitro Meat Production In-vitro meat production refers to the practice of artificially growing animal tissue in laboratory. In-vitro meat production using stem cells appears as an appealing alternative for general meat production system through livestock. The idea was introduced to improve nutrition during space travel, but it has been further considered by the scientific community and supported by animal welfare groups. Studies have been undertaken and these concluded it is feasible to produce in-vitro meat, but the necessary techniques and prospective impacts need to be much further developed before it is produced in enough quantity to be tested.