The Strange Future of Lab-Grown Meat Involves Quail, Crocodile, and Woolly Mammoth
December 18, 2024 | 1 min to read
Vow, an Australian biotech startup, has launched the first cell-meat factory, pioneering the production of 'weird meat' to achieve scalability. At a recent Climate Week event in New York, they showcased a quail parfait, a dish created from the connective tissue cells of a Japanese quail embryo, offering a new, unconventional dining experience. This innovative approach signals a significant shift in food production, blending advanced technology with culinary artistry.
Australian biotech startup Vow has created the first cell-meat factory and is focusing on ‘weird meat’ to achieve viable scale.
The quail parfait glistens on my plate, smeared across a disc of fried heirloom masa. At first glance, it looks like the kind of fine-dining fare you’ll find at many high-end restaurants: a rich, rosy paste topped with pickled pepper, an edible flower, and a dusting of cotija. But its conventional presentation masks a deeper truth. This meal is unorthodox, even radical. In some ways, it’s unlike anything the world has ever seen.
The parfait on my plate wasn’t made in the traditional way of pâté and foie gras, from liver. It was grown from the connective tissue cells of a Japanese quail embryo harvested years ago and genetically induced to multiply forever in the lab. And it’s being served to me at a Climate Week event in New York by Joe Turner, chief financial officer of the Australian biotech startup Vow.
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