The hamburger, assembled from tiny bits of beef muscle tissue grown in a laboratory and to be cooked and eaten at an event in London, perhaps in a few weeks, is meant to show the world — including potential sources of research funds — that so-called in-Vitro meat, or cultured meat, is a reality. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/science/engineering-the-325000-in-vitro-burger.html?ref=science  ‘well, we actually showed that it works, but now we need to get funding and work on it,’ In a lab with incubators filled with clear plastic containers holding a pinkish liquid, a technician was tending to the delicate task of growing the tens of billions of cells needed to make the burger, starting with a particular type of cell removed from cow necks obtained at a slaughterhouse. One of a handful of researchers in the field, has made strides in developing cultured meat through the use of stem cells — precursor cells that can turn into others that are specific to muscle — and techniques adapted from medical research for growing tissues and organs, a field known as tissue engineering. Cultured meat, uses a type of stem cell called a myosatellite cell, which the body itself uses to repair injured muscle tissue.“People need to wrestle with the idea of whether this is meat or not.”

Other researchers are studying different kinds of stem cells that, unlike myosatellite cells, can reproduce indefinitely, ensuring a “livestock-autonomous” supply of cells to make cultured meat. Dutch researchers at Utrecht University are trying to isolate embryonic stem cells from pigs and cows. “If we can reduce the global (cattle) herd a millionfold, then I’m happy,” “I feel strongly that this could have a major impact on society in general.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/30/pro-lifers-drop-pepsi-boycott/