"I finally ate it!

-Future meat "cultured meat" now-April 20, 20:20

A tightly controlled laboratory.

The researcher in a lab coat carefully took it out of the petri dish while the people involved drank and watched.

It was freshly made "cultured meat".

This March, at the University of Tokyo, a tasting of domestically produced "cultured meat" was held, not just domestically produced beef made with the latest technology.

“Cultured meat,” which creates new meat by culturing meat cells, is intensifying research and development competition around the world when it leads to the elimination of food shortages and the reduction of environmental burden.

What is the taste?

We covered the latest research.

(Science and Culture Department Reporter Hajime Oka, Asaichi His Director Kurodazawa)

First in Japan!

Tasting cultured beef

On March 29th, the laboratory of the University of Tokyo was surrounded by a unique enthusiasm.

A small transparent petri dish is in front of everyone's eyes, including the interview team.

The protagonist of the day was in the light pink liquid.

Of course, it is "cultured meat".

Professor Shoji Takeuchi of the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology of the University of Tokyo and the research group of "Nisshin Foods Holdings" aim to realize "cultured meat", which is also delicious and responsive like steak. I have been conducting research.

The first tasting was done.

Research on "cultured meat" is being actively conducted in Japan, but until now, research on technical aspects has been the main focus.

It is said that this is the first time in Japan that a full-fledged "cultured meat" of beef is prepared on the assumption that it will be eaten by humans and actually sampled.

What is "cultured meat"?

What is "cultured meat" in the first place?

Is it different from the "alternative meat" that I often hear these days?

"Cultured meat" is made by culturing cells from animals such as cows and meat such as fish in a liquid containing nutritional components.

This "cultured meat" is also regarded as a kind of "alternative meat".

However, "alternative meat", which is made by processing soybean protein so that it has a texture and taste close to that of real meat, is not meat no matter how close it is to meat, whereas "cultured meat" is real meat. Made of the same cells.

In 2013, the world's first tasting party for hamburgers made from "cultured meat" was held in the United Kingdom.

At that time, it became a hot topic that it cost more than 30 million yen per piece.

Almost 10 years later, the research went further, but there was a big wall here.

The name is "Steak Wall".

Currently, the mainstream technology can make minced "cultured meat" like hamburger patties, but it does not make chunks of meat like steak meat.

Professor Takeuchi and others are challenging this wall.

In order to reproduce the "cultured meat" of a chunk, it is necessary to realize the technology to align the orientation of muscle cells and to construct fat and blood vessels three-dimensionally like real meat. ..

It's, in a sense, like regenerating the body from a piece of meat.

Professor Shoji Takeuchi

"I want to make something that has muscle fibers arranged in one direction and has a texture and taste similar to steak. It is a big challenge to cultivate meat outside the body just like the real thing."

The method that Professor Takeuchi and his colleagues came up with was not to make steak suddenly, but to start with a so-called "shabu-shabu meat strategy."

The source is beef cheek meat.

These cheek meat cells are cultured in a container with a groove like a drainboard.

Then, as the number of cells increases, they expand in the same direction in the groove, forming a thin sheet.

By stacking several thin "cultured meat" sheets like this "shabu-shabu meat", I tried to reproduce the thickness and three-dimensional structure of the steak.

Then, three years ago, Professor Takeuchi and his colleagues succeeded in producing a dice-shaped "cultured meat" with a size of less than 1 cm using this technique.

However, unfortunately, the dice "cultured meat" at this time could not be actually eaten because it used research materials when culturing.

Therefore, Professor Takeuchi's group worked on the development of "cultured meat" using only edible ingredients.

"Cultured meat" that can be eaten finally appeared

On March 29, the "cultured meat" that was finally eaten in the laboratory was unveiled.

Mai Furuhashi, a researcher at Nissin Foods Holdings, opens the lid of the petri dish and carefully removes the "cultured meat".

The culture medium in the petri dish and the scaffolding material for the growth of cells are the technologies newly developed by the group to make edible "cultured meat".

It's not just about the technical side.

Since we actually make things that people can eat, we need to take all possible measures from the perspective of "food safety."

The group submitted a research plan to the "Institutional Review Board" established at the University of Tokyo, from how to proceed with research to ethical issues, and received approval in November 2021.

Finally, we have prepared an environment for making "cultured meat that can actually be eaten."

"Cultured meat" taken out.

It was a square and thin meat like shabu-shabu rather than steak.

It has a red color.

It weighs about 2 grams.

The size is 4.5 cm in length, 2 cm in width, and 1 mm in thickness.

It means that the structure of muscle fibers is reproduced three-dimensionally, just like real beef.

This time, I put it in a heat-resistant bag and heated it in a water bath so as not to damage the tissue of "cultured meat" as much as possible.

It's just shabu-shabu.

The "cultured meat" that had been water-bathed and heated in a pan appeared to have shrunk a little.

The color is deep reddish.

(Actually, this red color is a pigmented color, and since the cultured cells do not have blood, it is originally a faint yellowish whitish color.)

The tasting is representative of the group. Then, Professor Takeuchi and Researcher Furuhashi.

The two were staring at the heated "cultured meat" for a while before eating.

"Making a chunk of cultured steak meat!"

What is in front of us is the result of the research that the group has accumulated over the years, step by step.

The two carefully brought the "cultured meat" to their mouths.

Then, I chewed it over and over again to check the taste and texture of the "cultured meat" as if to concentrate all my nerves.

By the way, since the amount of culture that could be cultivated this time is small, we, of course, cannot eat it.

Therefore, regarding the taste, we have no choice but to listen to their impressions.

What did it taste like?

Researcher Mai Furuhashi

"The chewy texture was stronger than I expected. The taste may not be beef yet, but it was as light as a seafood with the fat and iron odors removed. I felt the umami component slowly. "

He said that he felt the taste of seafood, not meat.

seafood….

And Professor Takeuchi.

Professor Shoji Takeuchi

"I was a little surprised that it was chewy and hard to get rid of from my mouth. I thought it wouldn't taste, but it had a taste other than saltiness, and it was never artificial. I didn't feel like I was eating

Even if the taste of the meat is different from the one you are accustomed to eating, the chewy texture that reproduces the muscle fiber is close to that of real meat.

Although we have not yet reached our goal of "cultured meat", the group's goal is to realize a "cultured meat" steak that is 7 cm in length and width, 2 cm in thickness, and weighs about 100 grams in three years. ..

For that reason, it is said that the realization of this tasting is a big step.

Professor Shoji Takeuchi

"As long as I am researching food, I cannot move forward without eating. I finally have an environment where I can proceed with research while actually evaluating the taste and texture by eating" cultured meat ". I think that being in place is a huge step forward. "

Research that seeks deliciousness

Research on "cultured meat" in Japan, which has entered an era of not only making shapes but also eating and evaluating them.

Deliciousness is important there.

The group of Professor Noriya Matsuzaki of the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University aims at "cultured meat" that reproduces marbled beef.

Professor Noriya Matsuzaki

"If you look closely at the actual beef, it is made up of fibrous muscles, fat, and blood vessels that are intricately bundled together. I think it can give a feeling. If possible, the goal is to have "cultured meat" that is tastier than real beef. "

3D print meat!

??

Professor Matsuzaki and his colleagues use a special 3D printer.

It is a device that can freely form a shape with living cells.

First, the actual beef is divided into muscle and fat and cultured separately.

Set each of the cells in a 3D printer and inject them into gelatin from a fine needle tip.

Then, when the gelatin is raised to a certain temperature and cultured, gelatin melts, and fibers like threads in which cells are bound to each other emerge from the inside.

This is the part of Professor Matsuzaki's "cultured meat".

However, with the equipment I'm using now, it's a manual operation from here.

The fibers made of meat cells are patiently bundled one by one.

Professor Noriya Matsuzaki

"It takes several hours just to bundle the" cultured meat "that is about 1 cm square now.

Based on the blueprint, we will arrange the fat here, the blood vessels here, the muscles here, and the fibers one by one, so it is a task that requires a lot of time and concentration. "

Automation of "cultured meat" production

Therefore, Professor Matsuzaki is working with two private companies, including Shimadzu Corporation, a major analytical instrument manufacturer, to develop a new device that can automate everything.

We are considering the number of needles in the 3D printer and the speed at which cells are injected one by one.

Professor Noriya Matsuzaki

"My specialty is to assemble tissues using cells, but I feel that it is necessary to collaborate with people from different fields to make it into a device. I embody the device I envisioned. I have great expectations because they will make suggestions. "

Shimadzu Mami Tomita

"It's a challenge that may change the world's diet with Japanese technology, so I don't say it's better to have a higher hurdle, but I'd like to do my best to overcome it."

In the future, Professor Matsuzaki's research group aims for a technology that allows the eater to freely decide on the ratio of lean meat and fat to nutrition and taste, and to make the ultimate "cultured meat" of his own. It means that there is.

Professor Noriya Matsuzaki

"I think it would be best if this technology could be developed so that we could freely create various meat structures and design them, including taste, ingredients, and aroma. I want to work on the point of implementing it in

As early as next month, we are planning to have a tasting of "cultured meat" following the research group at the University of Tokyo.

The possibility of "cultured meat"

Meat, not just beef, has become an indispensable source of protein for many people and as an ingredient that brings joy to eating.

However, livestock requires a large amount of land, a large amount of feed and water.

Problems with greenhouse gases such as methane gas produced by livestock have also been pointed out.

It is also necessary to take measures against infectious diseases of livestock such as bird flu, hog infectious disease CFS (classical swine fever), and foot-and-mouth disease.

If "cultured meat" is put into practical use, it may open up the possibility of solving these problems.

Also, if mass production is possible, the cost can be expected to decrease.

Not only that, the technology for making "cultured meat" with a tissue that looks exactly like the real thing has the potential to be applied to regenerative medicine that regenerates the human body as it is.

However, it is expected that new problems will arise in the spread of "cultured meat".

For example, what to do with the labeling of production areas and quality control standards, how to protect food safety, and so on.

Public and private discussions are currently underway on these issues, but they have yet to come to an end.

In addition, it is expected that whether consumers will accept the "cultured meat" that has actually appeared will be an issue in the future.

With advances in science and technology, food has changed over time.

When will the day when "cultured meat" be incorporated into our diet, that day may not be so far in the future.

* The forefront of research on "cultured meat" will be introduced in "Asaichi" (8: 15 am-) broadcast on April 21st.

Hajime Oka

,

Reporter ,

Department of Science and Culture Joined

the Yokohama Bureau

in 2012 .

Asaichi Director

Kurodazawa

Joined in 2013

Tokushima Bureau, after 5 o'clock Shibu

Covers the topic of in-service food and cooking My

favorite meat dish is thick-sliced ​​beef tongue grilled