Researchers Reveal World’s First 3D-Printed Marbled Wagyu Beef

According to a news release, researchers from Osaka University have produced the world’s very first 3D-printed Wagyu beef, making use of stem cells extracted from Japanese cattle. The product resembles an authentic steak portion consisting of muscle tissue, blood vessels, and fat.

As a result of its high marble composition, Wagyu (Japanese cow) beef is among one of the most desired and highly-priced meats globally. Marbling, or sashi in Japan, describes the prominent layers of intramuscular fat that provide the beef its rich flavors and unique texture. Since the majority of cultured meats produced so far resemble ground-up meat made up of basic muscle tissue fibers instead of the intricate structure of actual beef steaks, 3D printing Wagyu is an incredibly challenging accomplishment.

The group of scientists has the ability to reproduce this unique property of the meat employing a unique strategy, and their discoveries might lead the way for a more sustainable future with widely accessible cultured meat.

From Candy Making to Bioprinting Meat

According to the paper released in the journal Nature Communications, the scientists used two varieties of stem cells, bovine satellite cells and adipose-derived stem cells, extracted from Wagyu cows. Next, they incubated and coaxed the cells into the different cell types needed to produce distinct fibers for muscle, fat, and blood vessels. These were stacked into a 3D stack to appear like the marbling of Wagyu.

After that, the scientists adjusted a method influenced by the one utilized to produce Japanese Kintaro candy, an old traditional candy formed in a long pipe and cut into pieces. The stacks were cut perpendicularly to form lab-grown beef cuts, which enabled a large level of customization within the complex meat structure.

This process was how they had the ability to imitate the famous texture of Wagyu. According to the scientists, the artificial meat has come to look even more like the real thing, and the procedure can be employed to produce various other complicated structures.

Senior author Michiya Matsusaki mentioned that by boosting the technology, it would be feasible to not just recreate complicated meat structures, such as the gorgeous sashi of Wagyu beef, but to additionally make slight modifications to the fat and muscular tissue components.

The team provided no evidence of how much the steaks might be priced at to produce or how much time it would require to get them to market; however, it definitely seems promising.

The cell-based meat industry might be worth $20 million by 2027, according to Markets and Markets. Suppose this kind of project can disrupt the food supply chain. In that case, the 3D printing revolution might someday eliminate the need to source meat from livestock, leading the way for a new, more sustainable means to appreciate meat in the future.

Originally published on Interestingengineering.com. Read the original article.