Grow your own meat?

How to make your own meat

Vladimir Mironov, a tissue engineer at the Medical University of South Carolina, wants to build a device the size of a coffee maker that would allow people to grow meat in their kitchens.

Here is how it might work.

1. Myoblasts, immature cells that develop into muscle fibre, would be harvested from a pig, cow, chicken or turkey and cultured.

2. Cooks could buy these starter cells, and add them to a growth medium, which would contain water, sugar, salt vitamins, amino acids and growth factors that would stimulate them to reproduce. (Scientists now use fetal bovine serum, but say they would have to come up with a product that was more affordable).

3. The mixture would be put into a counter top incubator, where it would be warmed to encourage growth.

4. The cells would develop into muscle fibre.

5. Hours later, small pieces of meat could be harvested, washed and cooked, either in a patty or a sauce.