BY ALLISON AUBREY
For thousands of years, humans have slaughtered animals for meat. But Dr. Uma Valeti dreamt of a different way: eating chicken without having to kill a chicken. He figured out how to “grow” meat directly from animal cells.
It’s completely different from the meat alternatives Beyond Meat or Impossible, which are made from plant-based ingredients, including vegetable proteins. “This is real meat, no compromise, made in front of you,” Valeti said.
His company, Upside Foods, just received clearance from the USDA to start selling their meat, made at a production center in Emeryville, California. Here, the chicken is grown in tanks. “We’ll be able to produce 50,000 to 75,000 pounds of meat every year, right away,” he said.
The process begins with animal cells that have been extracted from an egg or live chicken. The cells are frozen in tiny, thimble-size vials. “All the cells that make the cut of high-quality cells make it into this seed lab,” Valeti said. “And from that small amount, we can grow thousands of pounds of meat.”
Coaxing the cells to multiply and grow into meat is part alchemy. In his cultivator, a turbine mixes in all the food the cells need to grow: amino acids, fats, vitamins. “The idea really is when an animal is alive, there’s blood circulating, constantly something is moving around in the animal’s body, touching the cells and animal’s body. We’re just recreating that.”
Valeti said that in about 10 days, these cells have grown into chicken that’s ready to cook.
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