Livestock production makes up 14-18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. With worldwide consumption of meat projected to reach 500 million by 2050, many researchers and investors are keen on finding more eco-friendly solutions to meeting human needs. As of 2024, $1.6 billion VC money has been invested in the lab-grown meat industry in hopes of slashing the effects of environmental and animal cruelty from traditional meat production.
The Origin of Lab-Grown Meat
The first lab grown hamburger was served at a London news conference in 2013. That one-of-a-kind invention cost a whopping $330,000, funded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and produced by Professor Mark Post of Maastricht University. Post began this project with a “sustainability goal” in mind, starting Mosa Meat, a food technology company that engineers meat from cell culture. Over the next decade, about 200 startups worldwide popped up to continue Professor Post’s strides of cultivating meat in a lab, ideally with a lower price tag. In 2019, the cost dropped to 9 euros per burger, but that is still more expensive than typical hamburgers. Due to ongoing research, cultivated meat is only approved in Singapore, the United States (although some states have banned its sale), Israel, and Australia, as of June 2025. The Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland are also making strides in incorportating this nascent technology on their markets.
What is Lab-Grown Meat? Also, how is it made?
Lab-based (or cell-based) meat is meat developed from animal cell culture instead of traditional raising and slaughter of living animals. It is not an imitation of meat made with other ingredients, like plant-based burgers that are made from plant-based proteins. There are four general steps in making this product:- A sample of stem cells are taken from a live animal.
- The stem cells are put in large tanks called bioreactors, containing culture media that recreate a similar environment to that which the cells would find in an animal’s body. The bioreactor provides the cells with the nutrients they need to multiply.
- The culture media is altered so that the stem cells can differentiate into muscle, fat, and connective tissue.
- The cells are then scaffolded—separated, and arranged into the type of meat that is being produced for consumption. Scaffolds support the organization of meat cells into the desired shape of different types of meat (i.e. steak, mincemeat, etc.) and holds the nutrients that help the cells further differentiate.
For meat products with more complex textures and compositions, such as steak, a 3-D printer is often used, as this allows manufacturers to specify and fine-tune the compositional properties of the meat.
Does Lab-Grown Meat Really Improve the Environment?
Advocates of lab-grown meat discuss how this process not just reduces the need to slaughter animals for consumption, but also ensures a reduced risk of bacteria such as E. coli. As of 2024, no labs use antibiotics in their manufacture of lab-grown meat in order to limit the risks of foodborne illnesses, nor do they foresee its use.Critics of the process, on the other hand, point out how lab-grown meat does not entirely solve the animal welfare crisis. The stem cells used for lab-produced meat require a culture medium that contains fetal bovine serum (FBS), blood from a cow fetus that’s collected when a pregnant heifer is slaughtered, making the process not entirely slaughter-free.
Critics also point out the fact that recent modelling has suggested that lab-grown meat may generate problematic levels of carbon dioxide over the long term if fossil fuels are used. However, in 2021, a life cycle assessment conducted by CE Delft concluded that if renewable energy is used in the meat cultivation process, the cumulative environmental impacts can reduce for beef production by 93 percent, pork production by 53 percent, and chicken production by 29 percent. The process by which lab-grown meat is produced is an instrumental element in reducing negative impacts on the environment; solely slaughtering fewer animals may not be enough to reduce carbon emissions.
Takeaway
There is still much research to be done on lab-grown meat, both in terms of its environmental impact and its scalability. As of 2026, only a few companies worldwide are producing lab-grown meat at a commercial scale, and the cost of production remains high. However, with continued investment and research, lab-grown meat has the potential to become a viable alternative to traditional meat production. Will people be willing to embrace lab-grown meat as a mainstream food source? Only time will tell.