There are many ISS experiments conducted in space. Among the recent most successful one is the production of the first lab-grown meat in space. The project belongs to Aleph Farms, a food company, and took place on the Russian side of the International Space Station.
Aleph Farms is a start-up centered on the production of lab-grown meat. This type of food would be an alternative to natural meat, meaning that increasingly fewer animals would be raised to be slaughtered. For now, the product is not commercially viable, but the success of the ISS experiment is getting us closer to that moment.
The company promotes the idea of protecting the resources of the Earth, which are already depleting at an accelerated pace. Aleph Farms aims to protect the environment and come up with solutions to feed the world’s future populations, estimated to grow faster than expected.
ISS astronauts created the first lab-grown meat in space
While on Earth, Aleph Farms successfully produced lab-grown meat, they wanted to see how is the process going on on ISS, in a microgravity environment. And that because Aleph Farms plans to establish a lab-grown meat production farm on Earth’s orbit.
The purpose of “farm” in space would be to diminish the effects of such a project on climate change. Besides, the company would not use land on Earth for its establishment so that the respective soil could be used for other resources. The ISS astronauts succeeded in creating the first lab-grown meat in space using a bioprinter. The experiment took place in late September on the Russian lab on the International Space Station.
“In space, we don’t have 10,000 or 15,000 Liter (3962.58 Gallon) of water available to produce one Kg (2.205 Pound) of beef. This joint experiment marks a significant first step toward achieving our vision to ensure food security for generations to come while preserving our natural resources,” stated Didier Toubia, Aleph Farms CEO.