PART II
Ten thousand years ago, there was no such thing as corn, just a wild grassy plant called Teosinte. Farmers started domesticating it by selecting seeds for planting. Maize, as it was later called, then had an ear ( cob) 2 cm long with eight rows of kernels. From that lowly start, the corn has steadily transformed in size ( to 7.5” ) and yield ( 16 rows of kernels ). Today, it is the most widely grown crop in the world at 1.1 Billion tons, followed by wheat at 760 Million tons and rice at 755 Million tons.
We started domesticating ( 8,000 BCE) maize when our population was at 1 to 10 M and a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. Our longevity grew with the corn’s adaptation to growing in all climatic zones, too dry for rice or too wet for wheat. 7.5 billion years later and a life expectancy into the 70s, we have developed all kinds of uses for corn outside human and livestock feed. The demand for commercial and industrial application of corn maxed out the yield from selective and cross-breeding.
Twenty-five years ago, the first genetically engineered ( Genetically Modified ) corn was developed by inserting a gene ( Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt ) into the corn DNA. It makes the plant resistant to insects and can tolerate herbicides. Genetic modification became the newest invention that increased crop yields, enhanced nutritional values, gave fruit ( i.e. tomatoes ) longer shelf lives and made plants resistant to drought, frost and insects. GM does not change the plant’s phenotype, only the characteristic the inserted gene is purposed to do.
Today, Canada’s corn crop is over 80% GM ( 90% in the U.S. ). About 3% of these is sweet corn ( 10% in the U.S. ). Most GM corn is the field variety used for livestock, ethanol and other dietary and industrial applications.
From the first GM tobacco developed in the 80s, a whole host of GM plants became the dominant crop in the world. Besides corn and soy, rice, potato, canola, papaya, cotton, alfalfa, and sugar beet are the most cultivated GM plants worldwide.
THE MULE, THE BEEFALO AND THE GEEP
Between 36,000 and 41,000 years ago, ancient hunter-gatherers attracted docile wolves that consumed their leftovers during their hunting forays.
Eventually, these friendly wolves evolved into dogs. ( Foxes split from the wolves 12 M years earlier ) Today, there are 339 breeds of dogs; the American Kennel Club registers 200. Domestic cats descended from Tigers some 10.8 M years when it gave rise to African wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica ). Today, there are 71 recognized breeds of cats.
In these two examples, human intervention played a pivotal role in creating domestic species of cats and dogs and dozens of other animals in the same genus ( hence similar DNA). Nature provides less opportunity for animals to interbreed. Breeding has become more sophisticated by introducing in-vitro fertilization ( IVF ) and using surrogates. Humans have benefited from this process.
Hybridization in animals has also produced many that never existed before. The original Mule was a natural cross between a male donkey and a female horse. Mules are sterile; the only way to produce more mules is to cross a donkey and horse repeatedly. Many others were “created “ after the mule. The “Beefalo” (a cross between a Bison and a Cattle ), the “Liger” ( a Lion and a Tiger ), and then the “Geep” ( a goat and a sheep ) are some of these.
There are many more out there that are not propagated because there is no commercial value ( the Beefalo meat may be an exception ), or they do not offer any advantages in preserving the stability of the parental animals. Dogs are in a different category because they are bred primarily as pets. So as long as there is a demand for a specific breed, breeders will continue to meet this demand.
GENETIC MODIFICATION IN ANIMALS.
The mouse was the first animal to be genetically modified way ahead of plants, GM in 1983. GM mice were the cornerstone of research in genetic engineering, giving rise to genetic reprogramming and stem cell therapy. Like plants, the process involves inserting genes of other animals into a parental recipient to enhance phenotypic characteristics. The reproductive cells (sperm/egg) have traits such as disease resistance, higher milk production, or meat quality. Besides enhanced milk production, GM cows have been gene-edited to produce milk closer to a human variety. Early GM animals include pigs, goats and cattle.
In Canada, nothing could be more prominent than GM Salmon. Canadian scientists in the mid-’80s developed the transgenic salmon. This bioengineered salmon, whose genetic structure is altered, grows faster to reach market size in half the time and with 25% less food. AquaBounty, the company that developed this farmed variety, inserted two genes from other fish species to achieve fast growth. A gene from a Pacific Chinook salmon and another from an Ocean Pout ( a kind of eel ). These two genes allow the GM salmon to achieve growth all through the winter ( a characteristic of the Ocean Pout ), while the Chinook provides a gene that provides and regulates growth hormones.
The fear that it can breed wild salmon and create havoc in natural ecosystems is unfounded. The GM salmon eggs are female and sterile. They are grown in land-based systems and have no way of finding themselves in the mix of wild fish as in conventional ocean pens utilized in traditional farmed salmon. When Canadian scientists developed it, it took another twenty years for the FDA approval and another six years before the US and Canada approved it for public consumption. Land-based growth systems have the potential for production in urban areas close to the market, and unused factories ( rust belts ) are ripe for conversion.
The Ripley’s Aquarium in downtown Toronto is a more complicated project than, say, huge aquarium-like tanks at the old De Havilland Aircraft complex at Downsview Park. A setup like this has the potential to supply salmon for the GTA and beyond, limited only by capital. The GM technology is limitless!
AND NOW, THE LATEST, THE SCIENCE OF “CULTIVATED MEAT”
The mere idea of killing a cow to get a steak or make hamburger patties may be on its last legs. Besides the cruelty of breeding and rearing farming animals, there is an ongoing question of land usage, methane generation and chemicals involved in farming. To be sure, the demand for protein and the sustainability of supply, despite huge strides in animal husbandry, has been questioned for some time.
In comes “cultivated meat” or laboratory-grown flesh. Gross? Not really; the product has the same taste and texture as the traditionally sourced variety ( arguably “grosser” ). Technology has perfected growing cells ( for now, the muscle of the animal we use for food, i.e., chicken breast ) in a lab. It is made from the same cells that make up animal tissues with the same nutritional profiles as conventional meat.
In 2013, the first cultivated meat burger was unveiled on TV ( by a Dutch scientist Mark Post ). It is not to be confused with plant-based burgers ( Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods ), meatballs or bacon made from soy or mushrooms that imitate meat. Years of research in stem cells, cell culture and bioengineering made cultured meat possible.
MANUFACTURING CULTURED MEAT
begins with acquiring stem cells ( “master cells” that differentiate into tissues and organs of the body, sourced from bone marrow ) from an animal. The cells are then grown in bioreactors by feeding an oxygen-rich medium made up of the same materials in an animal’s body, such as amino acids, glucose, vitamins and minerals, converted from the feed.
A “scaffolding” ( typically a biodegradable polymer that provides structural support for cell development and subsequent tissue development ) structure triggers immature cells to develop into muscle and fat that make up meat. This process takes 2 to 8 weeks, after which the cells ( meat ) are harvested, prepared and packaged into final products.
Stem cells can develop ( differentiate ) into whatever tissue it is cued to become. ( which is the basis of future organ replacement therapy ) ; blood, bone, kidney, liver and, for now, skeletal muscles, which are the basis of cultivated meat. Beef steak, chicken breast or salmon steak have all been cultivated. Companies are developing cultured milk by cultivating mammary tissues capable of milk production or liver cells that can transform into foie gras.
Even in its infancy, billions of dollars are being invested by major food producers as they see cultivated meat as the wave of the future. In December 2020, Singapore approved the world’s first cultivated meat for sale; a cultivated “Chicken Bite” made by California-based Eat Just.
ADVANTAGES OF CULTIVATED MEAT,
Theoretically, a single cow is all we need to produce all the beef we need to feed the world! ( even without killing the poor cow ) and how is that possible? That’s because a stem cell extracted from the bone marrow of a cow ( without killing it ) breeds the self-renewing stem cells in perpetuity and, therefore, could be the source of all stem cells used in the manufacture of cultivated meat. It is the same scenario for all the other animals sourced for cultured meat.
From this synopsis, you can immediately see the advantages of cultivated meat.
- Cheaper ( in the long run ). The first original cultivated burger is estimated to cost $300,000. We all know the history of technology. My first DELL laptop was more than $5000. You’ve all paid astronomical prices for your first cell phone, flat-screen TV, and microwave oven. Cultured meat is a technological innovation; it will follow the same course.
- Because it will be cheaper, the poor will have better access to protein, resulting in less malnutrition and increased life expectancy.
- Cruelty to animals will be a thing of the past. Battery-caged chickens ( 9” x 9” per hen, inside a cage for six laying hens ) and not much different from pigs. Massive cattle feedlots before slaughter and other factory farming methods prevent animals from living in natural environments.
- Cultivated meat requires 99% less land and five times less water.
- Salmonella and E. coli are nasty bacteria found in animal feces. Bacterial contamination is a severe infection that causes thousands of illnesses. No fecal matter in cultivated meat.
- Healthier meat. Producers can control the amount of fat in cultured meat. The process is capable of built-in, gene-induced components that can become an integral part of the meat.
- No need for growth hormones and antibiotics in cultivated meat. These chemicals in conventional meat are known to cause antibiotic resistance in humans. Growth hormones used in animals can trigger early puberty in humans.
Driving along QEW into Oakville, we see the vast FORD assembly plant. A future Cultivated Meat plant will rival a car assembly plant, but it will not feature a smelly, methane-producing stockyard and slaughterhouse common in cattle towns of the west. It will probably look more like a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant.
The only cut I might miss is chicken wings not because of taste but the bony structure that holds the meat. But even subtlety like feel and structure are not beyond the reach of technological innovation. My guess is that the future generation of consumers will not be eating animal flesh as we do now. Take heart, wing lovers; we will be long gone before the last chicken wing makes its final exit.
Bon appetit!
Again a great read. So well researched and written. I look forward to the next article from Edwin.