Synthetic meat: here’s what the Italian scientists who work with it think

“synthetic meat” it is a term that those who work there do not like, at least from a scientific point of view, given that it is surrounded by a negative feeling. “We could talk about “sustainable meat”as is often done abroad, or even use a more neutral term such as “cultural meat”given that there is no desire for artificiality, but an attempt to build a protocol for the creation of a product that must be as close as possible to natural meat»: these are the Stefano BiressiAssociate Professor of Molecular Biology e Luciano Conti, professor of Cell Biology, both at the University of Trento. Currently engaged as scientific managers in a research project on cultural meatfinanced by Bruno Cell, the first Italian start-up entirely focused on cultured meat.

Their work, at the moment, is seriously questioned by decisions of the Government and of the Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida, who want to impose a strong stop on food, drink and feed made in the laboratory starting from animal cells. “Frankly, we are very impressed by this decision,” explain the two academics. “Here something is being denied without having any evidence that it could be harmful to health, while there is no action on other products that are harmful, such as smoking”.

Professors, can you explain to us what exactly your job consists of?
«The project we are working on has the aim of optimizing the steps necessary for the production of cultured meat and the cell lines to be used in these products. Simply put, we try to make cells proliferate to create connective tissue. It is an aspect of creating a possible final product, then there are others who work on other elements, such as taste or texture».

What do you think of this type of product, does it have a future?
«We limit ourselves to the scientific part, this is our job. If he then asks us if we have an opinion, it is clear that we believe in the prospects of cultured meat, otherwise we wouldn’t be doing research. We hope that in the near future the production processes will be refined in a sufficiently satisfactory manner to give the population a quality product, comparable in many ways to traditional meat. Here, to get to that point it will still take a lot of research: however we look optimistically to the future of this product, otherwise we wouldn’t be here».

Optimism that we imagine has been somewhat dampened by the current government decisions.
«It is obvious that this stance worries us, also because it could question further future funding: perhaps the interests of those who support research financially will cool off, and this shouldn’t happen. Mostly because it risks impoverishing the Italian system: if we don’t go into production here they will do it elsewhere, among other things the bill would not block the importation of products from abroad. We are talking about an impoverishment for our scientific and productive community, as well as an exit of the know howwhich if we don’t use here they will use abroad».

About know howcould your work have different developments than those related to food?
«We cannot say for sure, but it is clear that research in any field leads to an increase in knowledge, and this should have a value in itself. The results that we would produce could be used by other researchers around the world for other studies, perhaps with purposes that we are not even imagining right now. Maybe for regenerative medicine, for example, since it’s a field we use for our research. Gagging knowledge is never helpful.”

What are the benefits of cultured meat?
«First of all there is the issue of sustainability, for which we would greatly reduce the impact on the planet’s resources, both water and CO2. So there are environmental implications, but also ethical ones, because the use of animals to produce meat would be reduced. And then we mustn’t forget that cultured meat is not just hamburger or steak for human consumption, but maybe even food for animals. Finally, there may also be an interest on the part of space agencies: in a distant future in which we will colonize other planets, we certainly cannot think of bringing animals with us. It may seem like science fiction, but it is important to see far: well, these aims are certainly not in competition with the objectives of Coldiretti and the farmers, and it is strange not to take them into consideration».

In terms of human health, could there be positive implications?
“Obviously. Think of the case of the “Mad Cow”: we can sincerely imagine zeroing the risk compared to traditional breeding, because we work in an incredibly more controlled situation».

And what are the limits of cultural meat instead?
«That currently, as far as we know, it is not possible to make a perfect Fiorentina, neither in terms of composition and structure nor in terms of taste. Nor in economic terms, given that currently producing cultured meat costs a lot. There are aspects that currently severely limit its success and diffusion, and it is there that research is important to create an increasingly quality product that is increasingly similar to real meat».

Thus, as with cricket flour, which is very expensive, there is no danger that the cultured meat will be sold to the consumer without their knowledge.
“We would say absolutely not. Then for heaven’s sake, there’s nothing wrong with having to label it well: it’s correct that there is maximum transparency towards the consumer. But the Government isn’t even going in the least bit in that direction: what it wants is a precautionary blockade, when there are already bodies at European level dedicated to assessing the security aspects. In practice, the European bodies that already act as a guarantee system for the citizen in Italy are deprived of a position justified by the bogeyman of security. Let’s take the example of vaccines: it wasn’t the Minister who established whether or not they were safe ».

But have you ever tasted cultural meat?
“No, we never did. In the laboratories we deal with an aspect of production that is not the final one, but we are very curious: as soon as there is an opportunity, we will gladly eat it».

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